Yoma Bank Announced a Two-Year Partnership with Rabobank With the Support of The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Represented by The Dutch Embassy to Improve Financial Inclusion in The Agriculture Sector

Yangon, Myanmar – June 7th, 2017 – Yoma Bank announced a two-year partnership with Rabobank with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as represented by the Dutch Embassy. The envisaged outcomes of the partnership are to improve financial inclusion particularly in rural Myanmar, and to provide financial solutions to key stakeholders in the agriculture sector. The technical assistance is to be provided by Rabo International Advisory Services (RIAS), a consultancy leg that is part of the Rabobank Group. The partnership builds on the current partnership between Yoma Bank and The Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT) will further strengthens Yoma Bank’s goal to offer inclusive financial services in Myanmar.

The main focal points of the program are:

• Further optimization of Yoma Bank’s Hire Purchase product to further boost mechanization in the countryside
• Support for the development and execution of un(der)secured financial products in a selected number of high potential agricultural value chains
• Support for the development and rollout of digital financial products that should significantly boost access to finance for the population at large
• Capacity building in Yoma Bank in order for the bank to be at the forefront of expanding financial services into rural Myanmar.

“In addition to our successful Agribusiness Finance Program (AFP), we will develop other credit products for the agriculture sector. This partnership will accelerate our efforts to develop more cash flow based finance products and unlock the enormous potential of Myanmar’s agriculture sector,” said Mr. Hal Bosher, Special Advisor to Chairman and CEO. 

Bosher’s words were echoed by Mr. Wouter Jurgens, ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, who stated that “Improving access to finance for the agriculture sector is one of the best enablers for inclusive economic transformation of Myanmar.”

 “Rabobank’s commitment to invest and build strong financial service providers in emerging economies is in line with its Banking for Food strategy, which is aimed at providing access to its knowledge, finance and networks”, says Mrs. Marianne Schoemaker, managing director of Rabo Development. 

“The agricultural potential in emerging countries is significant. Myanmar is one of those countries with significant potential to grow its agricultural outputs and play a pivotal role in food production and exports in the future. To help unlock that potential, Rabobank aspires to provide support to financial institutions and other players in agricultural value chains worldwide to enable them to increase the production, efficiency and to become more sustainable,” Schoemaker stated.