Symposium 2006
2006 KfW Financial Sector Development Symposium
Ingrid Matthäus-Maier (Spokeswoman of the Board of Managing Directors of KfW Bankengruppe) and Doris Köhn (Senior Vice President of KfW Entwicklungsbank) among other participants during the KfW Symposium. Source: KfW / Wolf Prange
Financing Housing for the Poor: Connecting Low-Income Groups to Markets
The 2006 KfW Financial Sector Development Symposium was a two-day conference, held in Berlin on 9 and 10 November 2006. A broad array of international experts in housing finance and related fields explored the challenges of promoting housing finance as an integrated part of sustainable and inclusive financial systems in developing and transition countries.
Housing finance for low-income groups is at the top of the international agenda for the development of financial systems. The focus of this agenda is the provision of shelter as a basic requirement for poverty alleviation. Actual and potential demand for housing finance is enormous, especially for housing improvement loans and certainly among the poor. Yet, the supply of housing finance remains severely constrained. The 2006 Symposium explored how access to housing finance for low-income groups, particularly those currently lacking access, can be facilitated and improved.
Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, Spokeswoman of the Board of Managing Directors of KfW Bankengruppe. Source: KfW / Wolf Prange
The symposium was divided into six thematic sessions. Sessions covered the following topics:
- Assessing the Potential: Connecting Low-Income Groups to Financial Markets
- Setting the Framework: Connecting Public and Private Interests
- Regulation and Public Sponsorship: Connecting with the Financial Sector
- Retail Instruments: Connecting with Clients
- Developing the Market: Connecting Wholesale to Retail
- Looking ahead: Connecting to the future
The format of the symposium was designed to engender discourse: Each thematic session was introduced by an expert, who presented a new paper. Each presentation was followed by moderated panel discussion and ended with an open exchange of views.
