March 13, 2010
MBA students and professors enjoyed the Fisher Fiesta Evening, an annual MBA event titled “How do Microfinance and Business Development Alleviate Poverty” at MIIS held on Saturday, Mar 13. Matt Flannery, the cofounder and CEO of KIVA, was the keynote speaker for the event. KIVA, based in San Francisco, is the first online microfinance platform and is now one of the leaders in the industry. I, along with fellow MBAs, greatly enjoyed Matt’s talk, especially the success stories and challenges of microfinance. One of the funniest stories he told was about a lender posting a picture of his cat instead of himself on the KIVA website; leading the borrower to believe a cat was her lender and therefore, she did not need to repay the loan to a cat. The Fiesta reception after the speaker session was scheduled at Montrio Bistro, one of the nicest restaurants in the downtown Monterey. We all enjoyed the ambience of this fine restaurant.
I introduced myself to Mr. Matt Flannery and was surprised when he asked me immediately after why foreign exchange regulation is so rigid in Bangladesh. We then briefly discussed the impact of the microcredit and Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
I was surprised and excited because I did not expect the KIVA CEO to ask me about the foreign exchange regulation in Bangladesh. Thank God I have some knowledge about the topic because of my past job with the Central Bank of Bangladesh and because some of my colleagues and friends are still working for the central bank, I agreed to find reference and information for Matt, if required in the future as Matt mentioned that KIVA is rapidly expanding in Africa & South America and would like to expand even in Bangladesh, the land of microcredit, if possible.