Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Presentation of the new European Union funded project on Financial Education Program (FEP) was commenced in Tashkent. The event brought together over 40 representatives of the interested stakeholders, including Cabinet of Ministers, Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Labor and Social protection, Ministry of Education and also representatives of training and research centers, non-governmental institutions from Uzbekistan.

The overall objective of the Financial Education Program (FEP) is to improve financial capability of low-income households in Uzbekistan through starting a process of institution building, innovation and creating relevant infrastructure at local, regional and national level. It is expected that the undertaken financial education activities will contribute to the significant improvement of financial behaviours of low-income households in terms of planning, saving, borrowing and effective use of financial services. It will in turn, help them to protect their assets and inspire to build new ones, therefore reducing their vulnerability to poverty, which is the ultimate purpose of this initiative.

The project is funded by the European Commission under the ECs Action Programme 2006 agreed with the Government of Uzbekistan, in the framework of Institution Building and Partnership Programme (IBPP) and implemented by the Poland-based Microfinance Center MFC) in cooperation with the local partner Association of Microfinance Organizations and Credit Unions of Uzbekistan (NAMOCU). Uzbek National Association of NGOs (NANNOUZ) is the official implementation partner for IBPP programme.

Microfinance Centre (MFC): is a grass-root network of 110 member institutions that play an active role in shaping the microfinance industry in the Europe and Central Asia region with headquarters in Warsaw, Poland. Members range from banks, non-governmental organizations, social and commercial investors, to development institutions and international PVOs. MFC plays a catalyst role in bridging the market gap between dramatic unmet demand for microfinance services and the sector current offering through supporting development of a wide range of financial institutions, promoting microfinance among policy makers, regulators and formal banking sector. MFC have implemented a number of financial education initiatives and programs in the countries of transition including Poland, Macedonia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. MFC is the lead partner in this project.

Association of Microfinance Organizations and Credit Unions of Uzbekistan (NAMOCU): is an organization with the mission to consolidate the efforts of non-banking microfinance institutions to increase the quality and access of microfinance services by building the capacity of microfinance sector and creating enabling environment for its development. NAMOCU is the local partner in this project.

MFC Executive Director Mr Grzegorz Galusek and Deputy Executive Director Ms Katarzyna Pawlak presented project goals and together with the participants discussed the current state of the financial education in Uzbekistan and the plan of activities of the Program.