QUITO, Ecuador (July 21, 2021) |
In an effort to boost its dual priorities of financial inclusion and education in Ecuador, the Economic Inclusion Project, financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and executed by World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), signed a cooperation agreement with the Superintendency of Popular and Solidarity Economy (SEPS) to benefit vulnerable people in Quito and Guayaquil.
“Inter-institutional coordination is very important. Since the SEPS is the regulatory and supervisory entity that oversees the savings and credit cooperatives we are working with, it allows us to generate synergies and joint efforts to efficiently promote digital financial inclusion despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Oscar Guzman, Director of the WOCCU Economic Inclusion Project (EIP) in Peru and Ecuador.
The purpose of the agreement is to establish a collaborative framework between SEPS and EIP for the exchange of information, and the development and implementation of projects focused on promoting financial inclusion and contributing to the development of economic and financial competencies in different sectors of the population. That will allow more people to make sustainable financial decisions.
"What we do is to favor the strengthening of entities through technical management. And we all know that in order to achieve financial inclusion, we need a sustainable and strengthened sector, and we are working on that. That is our commitment," said Margarita Hernández, Superintendent of Economy Popular and Solidarity.
The goal is to work in a joint and coordinated manner to achieve financial inclusion for the Venezuelan and Ecuadorian populations, considering that only 16% and 50% respectively, currently have access to formal financial services.
EIP Director Oscar Guzmán and SEPS Supt. Margarita Hernández sign the agreement