FINANCIAL INCLUSION - ADVANCING THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE
	Friday September 23, 2011 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM H Auditorium
	Archive video link available at http://www.worldbank.org/pos/ Today, about 2.7 billion people and 400 million businesses around the world lack basic access to financial services, impeding the development of individuals, businesses, and economies. Access to financial services provides stability and accelerates equitable development and growth for households and businesses and provides opportunities for job creation, women-owned businesses and entire economies. This gap in financial inclusion is a global challenge, but also an opportunity.  Innovations in banking and business models are making it possible to provide savings, loans, payments and insurance to those once thought unreachable.   The good news is that these innovations and growing commitments to financial inclusion have already made tangible progress and hold the potential for even more. Now is the time to harness this momentum and accelerate action to make financial services widely accessible to people and businesses that need it.   Key questions in this interactive session included: What are the key obstacles to accelerating progress toward financial inclusion? How can they be overcome? How common are national country action plans on financial inclusion?  How are they effective in reaching financial inclusion goals?  What more can be done in promoting cross-sector collaboration? What is the role of the private sector in closing the gap in access to finance for households and businesses?  How can these commitments be encouraged? How can economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs be expanded? Why are they important? What is the role of the WBG and CGAP in closing the gap in financial inclusion?
	Panelist(s): Ben Knapen , Minister for European Affairs and International Cooperation, Netherlands Princess Máxima , Princess of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development and Honorary Patron of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion José Antonio Meade , Minister of Finance and Public Credit, Mexico Mahmoud Mohieldin , Managing Director, World Bank
	Moderator(s): Rachel Kyte , Vice President, Head of Sustainable Development Network, World Bank Group
	Organized by: Peer Stein, Bikki Randhawa and Nina Bilandzic, IFC - Access to Finance Advisory - World Bank Group
	Last modified on: 09/28/2011 05:19:01 PM