Promoting SME Finance – A Technical Workshop for Iraqi Banks

One of the key obstacles to SME lending in Iraq is the lack of expertise of both banks and SME in requirements and best practices of SME finance. Against this background the workshops aims to: (i) Provide to Iraqi Banks and SME / Business Development Centres (BDS) insight into the technical features and the overall success factors of commercial SME finance; (ii) Narrow the SME finance demand-supply side gap by promoting exchange of information and networking between banks and SME; and (iii) Give interested Iraqi banks on an individual basis a first orientation on how to implement an SME finance strategy.

In the course of the workshop both groups shall initially be trained in separate working groups. This will allow them to get acquainted with approaches and opportunities for successful SME lending from their own perspective. Afterwards they will be able to use their gained knowledge for a joint exchange. As such there will be separate trainers and facilitators for both groups of participants. 

Within the framework of its recently commenced Sustainable Economic Development in Iraq (SEDI) program GIZ will head the workshop sessions for the BDS/SMEs and be responsible for the “demand side” of Iraqi SME finance. LFS is leading and conducting the sessions with high-level management of several Iraqi banks and trains the “supply side”.