The Central Bank of Samoa (CBS) in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), will be co-hosting a workshop on the
18th Aug 2020, at the Lava Hotel to launch and discuss the report on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME)
Access to Finance in Samoa. This report is the culmination of an assessment conducted by Mr. John Harding which was
initiated in late 2019. Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the opportunity to conduct a further assessment of MSME
impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic was also undertaken. As such, an additional COVID-19 supplementary report and
recommendations was commissioned and will also be released and discussed at the workshop. Both reports will be
available on the CBS and ESCAP websites following the workshop. These studies were undertaken with financial support
from the Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada.

The MSME Access to Finance report is a key complement to the Samoa MSME Development and Policy Strategy
spearheaded by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Labour (MCIL). Both assignments were commissioned around
the same time and was a great opportunity for these studies to collaborate.
The consultation and the objective of the workshop on the 18th of August aims to:

 Further dissemination of the findings and recommendations in a multi-stakeholder format.
 Discuss the key recommendations and how the recommendations can be applied and taken forward to support
MSME access to finance and business growth in Samoa.
 Discuss the key recommendations and how the recommendations can be applied to specifically support women
owned/led MSMEs in Samoa.
 To gain consensus on the key recommendations to be taken forward, the responsible entity to lead such
initiatives and consensus as to what additional support/resources/efforts are needed to advance the
recommendations into action.

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