In October 2020, Co-opBank officially joined the Association of Integrated Community Finance Institutions (Proxfin) as a regular member. This is an association established by the Développement international Desjardins ( (DID) with the goal of connecting credit and savings co-operative federations and credit unions in countries in which DID is present. On October 27th, 2021, Proxfin held the 2021 annual general meeting (AGM) virtually. This is the second year that the Proxfin AGM has been held virtually due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Attending the 2021 Proxfin AGM, Co-opBank’s representatives included Ms. Vu Thanh Hang – standing member of the Board of Directors, Mr. Nguyen Thac Tam – Deputy General Director and several relevant departments of the Head Office.
Co-opBank and Proxfin’s members attend 2021 Annual General Meeting virtually.
At the 2021 AGM, the delegates attending the meeting officially approved the applications to join Proxfin from 02 organizations which are Haitian National Credit Bank (BNC) and Financial Society Enterprises Finanfutoro (Columbia). As of now, there 33 member organizations (including DID) with total assets of C$14.813 million, serving 17.5 million members all over the world.
At the meeting, Ms. France Michaud – Communications Director (DID) and also General Secretary of Proxfin reported the operation activities in 2020 – 2021. In 2021, DID has supported in developing and deploying an algorithm that enable predictive analysis of the risk of default based on the socio-demographic and behavioral data of applicants in Tunisia. Some projects and member organizations of Proxfin are using E-learning platforms to provide training programs for staff, members and customers, including the project “Strengthening the People’s Credit Fund System” (STEP) in Vietnam funded by the Global Affairs Canada (GAC), is jointly implemented between DID and Co-opBank. These platforms have proven to be increasingly effective, especially in the context of the of the Covid 19 pandemic worldwide which has limited physical training activities
Ms. France Michaud said that a number of projects related to Proxfin’s members are aimed to improve the access of agricultural finance, including the Agriculture and Rural Finance in Mali, the Value Enhancement and Climate Resilience for Rural Agriculture in Haiti and STEP Project in Vietnam. In addition, the STEP project is considered a highlight in Canada’s development projects in the Asia-Pacific region, with the goal of supporting the PCFs to expand and strengthen their ability to provide safe and sustainable financial services for their members and customers in rural areas.
According to Ms. France Michaud, education has continued to be one of the main activities of Proxfin in the past year. In Benin, within the ADAPAMI project, DID has collaborated with 14 local partners to promote financial education and financial inclusion for the Benin’s people. In Colombia, within the PROFEM project, DID has supported the financial inclusion and capacity building for women and young people living in rural areas to help them develop their potential. In Senegal, through some projects ending in 2020, the DID team has helped them to put the integrated financial training into some programs provided by the technical and vocational training organizations for the local young people. Besides that, webinars are regularly organized to allow members of Proxfin to share and discuss issues related to financial inclusion.
At the meeting, Ms. France Michaud emphasized that in recent time, DID has maintained measures to solve the challenges and difficulties caused by the Covid 19 epidemic and ensure the safety of its employees, partners and social community such as: telecommuting, postponing international missions, strengthening connectivity tools and deploying digital solutions, as well as continuously monitoring the impact of the epidemic on each institution’s operation activities and also the financial inclusion. To encourage the exchanges among members, Proxfin has established online forums to discuss many commonly concerned issues of members, such as “Lessons learned from the Covid 19 pandemic” webinars.
According to its working plan, in the year 2021 – 2022, Proxfin will implement the promotion activities about its operation. However, due to the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, these activities may be limited. Therefore, Proxfin will continue to organize webinars, forums and online training programs to share the operational experiences for the attending members. The 2022 AGM is scheduled to be held in Kenya, depending on the circumstance of the Covid 19 epidemic on a global scale.
Truong Dang Hoang Minh – International Relationship and Project Management Department
