11th April 2011, Târgu Mureș - Opportunity Microcredit România, a microcredit institution and member of the Opportunity International Network, will mark 10 years of existence since the first microcredit granted as a non banking financial institution by organizing a series of special events on 15th April at the Cultural Palace from Targu Mures. The purpose of this anniversary is to celebrate the past, both the good and the harder periods in the life of Opportunity Microcredit Romania. Also we want to thank all those people who contributed to our development and achievements so far.

"We strongly believe in the power of microcredit to improve the lives of our clients and we support the development of small and medium enterprises in Transylvania. In the last 10 years we have gradually consolidated our position in the market. The experience we gained in this decade and the competence acquired enabled us to evolve our financial services finely correlated with client needs. From the beginning we have been blessed with strategic partners who have trusted us and saw the great potential of our team.  As we celebrate 10 years we would like to thank all those clients and partners who had faith in us" - S-P O’Mahony, General Director of Opportunity Microcredit Romania.

Guests

The event will gather more than 400 guests. Representatives of partners, shareholders and lenders from 10 different countries such as Opportunity International, Oikocredit, Finance in Motion, Credit Cooperatif, Good Bee Holding, European Investment Fund, CEE Microfinance will attend. We will enjoy the participation of 50 representatives from local banks and financial institutions from Romania. At the anniversary event we have invited our clients from all the eight counties in which we have branches and staff together with their families.

Speakers

9 speakers with know-how in the finance and banking field will honour us with their presence: Ken Vander Weele (Interim CEO of Opportunity International), Lynn Exton (Chief Risk Officer, Opportunity International), Elvira Lefting (Managing Director, European Fund for Southeast Europe).

Mike Thompson (CEO of GoodBrand & Company and Professor at China Europe International Business School), Péter Bartha (Executive Director of Post Privatization Foundation), Florica Cherecheş (Executive Director, Integra), Stefan Harpe (Equity Investment Manager at Oikocredit in the Netherlands), Viorel Gaga (founder Opportunity) and János Bereczki (Director Opportunity Microcredit Romania) will also contribute.

Topics

The agenda of the anniversary event comprises 3 main parts: seminar, conference for clients and Gala Concert. Some of the topics of the seminar will be challenges of microfinance in Eastern Europe and Social Purpose Trends.  Another important subject on the agenda, strongly connected to this, is the social impact that Opportunity Microcredit has in Romania. Our transformation and business strategy is focused on building strong communities. We want to give people hope and to convey our optimistic vision to our clients regarding their business and their collaboration with us. Therefore a significant part of the programme, the conference for clients, is dedicated to sharing stories, discussing about threats they have faced during the crises and the solutions they have applied. At the Gala Concert we will award clients that have the biggest impact through their business and thank all those who have supported during these years.

Our Investors

Opportunity Microcredit Romania has had powerful social impact in Romania and is an important partner for small and micro enterprises. Debt funding has been provided  by CoopEST, Citi, ERBD, the European Fund for Southeast Europe, responsAbility, Symbiotics. Opportunity International, Oikocredit and Izvor Foundation are majority shareholders.

Social Impact

Through its microfinance activity Opportunity Microcredit Romania together with its investors make a social impact on 3 different levels: personal, local and regional. At a personal/household level we have a powerful impact on our clients by improving their living conditions, helping them to acquire entrepreneurship skills and to develop professionally. 60% of them come from urban areas and 40% from rural areas. The second level is the impact in the community: creating new jobs, higher and more stable incomes and improvement of the economic base and resilience of the community. At a regional level our impact is strengthening the microenterprise sector which in Romania represents the back-bone of the economy.

During these 10 years of activity Opportunity has offered more than 14.000 disbursed loans with a total value of EUR 46,336 449 and has sustained more than 17.500 jobs.