The renewed partnership is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and represented by the Dutch Embassy will focus on financial access through digitalization

Sep 10, 2019

Yangon, Myanmar – September 10, 2019 – Yoma Bank and the Dutch multinational banking and financial company Rabobank announced the extension of their strategic partnership for financial inclusion, food security and private sector development in Myanmar. Aiming to reinforce the financial sector in the country through a digital roll-out, the representatives from the two banks signed the three-year partnership extension agreement on 5th September at Yoma Bank head office with the honorary presence of H.E Mr. Wouter Jurgens, Ambassador of Kingdom of the Netherlands to Myanmar.

With the rapid economic development in Myanmar, the role of financial inclusion has never been as important as now. Digitalisation will play a crucial role in implementing the national financial inclusion roadmap, to make financial services accessible across the nation. Through the renewed partnership, Rabobank will provide Yoma Bank technical assistance to accelerate its financial outreach through digitalised facilities, to bring financial services to everyone in Myanmar. The agreement will leverage Yoma Bank’s digital transformation to deliver inclusive financial services next to the existing features.

The main focal points of the partnership include:

• Digitizing financial services for SMEs focusing on end-to-end functionalities
• Strengthening Yoma Bank’s risk framework for long-term sustainability
• Making the various digital initiatives scalable and sustainable through the safe and future-proof IT infrastructure

“Yoma Bank believes access to finance in rural Myanmar is critical to the rapid economic development of the country, as an active participant in providing finance to this sector we are extremely pleased to extend our successful partnership with Rabobank for another three-year term. Our renewed partnership will heavily focus on building capability, skills and products to serve our SME & Rural customers allowing them greater access to our digital banking environment. Our partnership with Rabobank provides a further competitive step towards the Bank’s ambition to significantly digitize in 2020,” said Mr. Dean Cleland, Chief Executive Officer of Yoma Bank.

“At Rabo partnerships, our vision is that strengthening the financial sector in Myanmar will function as a catalyst to economic development. SMEs – which are widely recognized as important drivers for economic growth and employment -as of now remain underserved in Myanmar. By stimulating the development and roll-out of digital channels, we aim to increase financial service delivery to SMEs in Myanmar in an efficient, convenient and secure manner,” said Mr. Bjorn Schrijver, Senior Project Manager of Rabobank.

“Moreover it will make service delivery less dependent on the geographical location of the client, thus contributes to financial inclusion and economic development in the rural areas of Myanmar. Building on our existing partnership with Yoma Bank, we look forward to continuing our mutual cooperation, and are confident in realizing our shared ambitions.”

The new partnership builds on successful collaboration to date, in which Rabobank provided technical assistance to roll out the Agribusiness Finance Programme (AFP), combined with consultancy support through the public-private partnership (PPP) with the Dutch government. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has provided financial support to the PPP and will continue to do so for the new partnership. One of the key achievements of the collaboration to date has been the financing of over 6,500 agricultural equipment to Myanmar rural community, increasingly through a newly developed digital channel.