More than 1,200 delegates from 47 countries attended the Asia/Pacific Mocrocredit Summit (APRMS) in Dhaka, Bangladesh from February 16-19, 2004 making it the largest regional Microcredit Summit ever. Hundreds of delegates made field visits to ASA, BRAC, Grameen Bank, Padakhep and PKSF in the days leading up to the summit. Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) was the Local Organizer of the Meeting.

The Opening Ceremony was inaugurated by Begum Khaled Zia, Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Other Opening Ceremony speakers included H.M. Queen Sofia of Spain, Madam Zanele Mbeki, First Lady of South Africa, Bangladesh Finance Minister M. Saifur Rahman, and Grameen Bank Managing Director Muhammad Yunus.

The Closing ceremony was addressed by Sheikh Hasina, Leader of the Opposition in Bangladesh Parliament (Former Prime Minister) and Bangladesh Education Minister Dr. Osman Faruk, among others.

The four day long Regional Microcredit Summit in Dhaka contained the following sessions:

(1) opening and closing sessions, (2) seven plenary sessions to discuss papers commissioned by the campaign and other topics, (3) ten breakout workshops, (4) Institutional Action Plan presentations in plenary by ASA of Bangladesh and NABARD of India, (5) four councils meetings, (6) twenty associated sessions, and (7) six day-long courses.

Excerpts from a number of the sessions will be featured in upcoming issues of the Microcredit Summits E-News bulletin.