This paper examines institutional microfinance in the seven Asian countries. Some of the findings of the study are:
* Malaysia: A modern financial system exists with a diverse range of institutions, both private and public, including Islamic Banks. Interest rate controls have kept commercial banks away from microfinance.
* Thailand: Specialized microfinance services are not important in the country because of the comparatively minor (10-12 percent) poverty problems. Credit services and the large outreach of BAAC, the state agricultural bank, has reduced the need for specialized microfinance institutions (MFIs).
* Indonesia: Certain regulated MFIs provide sustainable microfinance services to the poor in the countryside.
* Philippines: Three categories of MFIs exist, each of which answer to a different regulator. There are the rural and thrift banks, NGOs providing microfinance services and credit unions or cooperatives.
* Cambodia: The international NGO community played a key role in the introduction of microfinance from the early 1990s.
* Vietnam: The NGO community has drawn the attention of the government to microfinance as a tool for alleviating poverty and a number of pilot projects have been initiated.
* Laos: The microfinance market is underdeveloped and requires considerable efforts for establishing sustainable MFIs.
