{"id":60218,"date":"2023-12-05T06:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-04T22:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=60218"},"modified":"2023-12-04T23:40:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T15:40:32","slug":"visa-elected-as-incoming-co-chair-of-grow-asia-business-council","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2023\/12\/05\/visa-elected-as-incoming-co-chair-of-grow-asia-business-council\/","title":{"rendered":"Visa elected as incoming Co-Chair of Grow Asia Business Council"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Visa has been elected as the incoming Co-Chair of the prestigious Grow Asia Business Council, a high-level advisory body bringing together company leaders to help shape Grow Asia\u2019s partnerships to develop a robust and market-driven approach, and to lead by example through investing in viable projects on the ground. Grow Asia was established in 2015 by the World Economic Forum &#8211; in collaboration with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) &#8211; to build market-driven solutions for sustainable food systems in Southeast Asia.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As announced at COP28 this year, Visa will join the incumbent co-chair, East-West Seed, which stands among the world\u2019s largest vegetable seed companies, serving 23 million smallholder farmers worldwide. As Grow Asia\u2019s Business Council Co-Chair and exclusive Digital Financial Inclusion Partner, Visa is supporting the design and deployment of Grow Asia\u2019s Public Private Impact Funds, in collaboration with other partners in the Grow Asia Network. The collaboration spans three years from July 2022 to June 2025. In the first year of partnership with Grow Asia, Visa participated actively in more than 30 multi-stakeholder events across the region and co-contributed to the design and scale-up of SMB-targeted projects and trainings in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Financial inclusion is a cornerstone for prosperity in Southeast Asia, where small and medium sized businesses contribute to 44.8% of the region&#8217;s GDP. \u00a0Despite the critical challenges posed by climate change and availability of innovative scalable solutions, the region\u2019s adoption of climate-resilient practices is hindered by economic and accessibility barriers.\u00a0 Digitalization and financial inclusion of smallholder farmers and rural businesses can bridge this economic gap and build resilient livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its role as Business Council Co-Chair with Grow Asia, Visa will enhance the knowledge and capacity of Grow Asia\u2019s programs, integrating digital financial solutions, promoting financial inclusion for smallholder farmers, and addressing livelihood challenges in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis engagement marks a significant step forward in our mission to uplift everyone, everywhere through digital financial inclusion,\u201d said Jeff Navarro, Country manager for the Philippines.\u201cFinancial inclusion for smallholder farmers is at the heart of sustainable development in the Philippines, and by collaborating closely with Grow Asia and other members of Grow Asia\u2019s Advisory Councils, we aim to unlock new opportunities for digital finance to drive climate resilience in the agri-food sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Visa\u2019s commitment to leveraging digital financial inclusion to drive sustainable growth in Asia extends beyond its co-chair role, with significant strategic investments into Grow Asia&#8217;s flagship impact funds. These funds include GrowVentures which focuses on Agri-Food Innovation; GrowHer on Women\u2019s Economic Empowerment; GrowRight on Responsible Investing; and GrowBeyond on Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are pleased to welcome Visa as the incoming Co-Chair of our Business Council,\u201d said Beverley Postma, Executive Director &#8211; Grow Asia. \u201cVisa\u2019s appointment is timely and significant as we confront the biggest challenge to climate transition in Asia \u2013 how to channel affordable finance to the farmgate. Over 45% of agri-finance needs remain unmet in the region, and rural SMEs suffer a lack of access to working capital, which hampers their ability to increase productivity and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Visa&#8217;s vast experience in digital finance will greatly contribute to our collective mission of empowering smallholder farmers, governments, and agri-food enterprises, through the promotion of financial inclusion, while driving the adoption of climate-resilient practices, and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the region&#8217;s food systems.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Grow Asia\u2019s Business Council Co-Chair and exclusive Digital Financial Inclusion Partner, Visa is supporting the design and deployment of Grow Asia\u2019s Public Private Impact Funds, in collaboration with other partners in the Grow Asia Network. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":54440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[96,2727,1656,676],"class_list":["post-60218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","tag-technology","tag-technology-adaption","tag-technology-investment","tag-visa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}