Brussels, 11/02/2004 (Agence Europe) - The international solidarity organisation PlaNet Finance held a conference in Brussels on 9 and 10 February entitled "New technologies and sustainable development: IT@Work for microfinance in Asia". Jacques Attali, president and founder of PlaNet Finance, and Muhammad Yunnus, pioneer of modern microfinance and co-president of PlaNet Finance's international board explained that the objective is to create synergy between microfinance- an initiative allowing the poorest access to small loans to start small income-generating activities- and modern technology. These technologies offer new ways to help microfinance institutions become "poor people's banks" by improving their management, their internal running and by giving them greater visibility. By using computers and the Internet, microfinancing institutions can improve their efficiency, reduce the cost of their loans, increase their size and get out of their isolation. In this way, new technologies give hope that the ambitious objectives of the World Microfinance Campaign to make financial services available to 100 million of the poorest families on the planet by 2005, declared by the UN "World Microcredit Year". Microfinance will be a means of fighting the digital divide poor countries suffer from. The conference allowed participants to get an idea of the fundamental help initiatives such as those proposed by PlaNet Finance in favour of least-favoured populations, especially in China and southern Asia, with the support of the European Commission's Asi@ITC programme.
During the United Nations world summit on the information society in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, Commissioner Liikanen pointed out that the plugging of the digital gap both inside and outside the Union was something very close to the EU's heart, and acknowledged the importance of new technologies to boost the development of the least favoured regions of the world.