Bai Tushum and Partners is the First Central Asian Microfinance Institution to Obtain a Full Banking License
27.11.2012
On November 14, 2012, Bai Tushum and Partners became the first microfinance institution in Central Asia to be awarded a full banking license from the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic.
With this, Microfinance Bank Bai Tushum and Partners will provide a complete range of financial services to entrepreneurs throughout the country. With its nationwide network of offices, Bai Tushum Bank will further deepen the financial sector in the Kyrgyz Republic.
As the first transformed microfinance bank in the region, Bai Tushum Bank will implement best international banking practices, promoting transparency in the financial sector and enhancing trust in the banking system.
The Bank will continue to carry out its social mission, supporting entrepreneurs and farmers in rural areas, as well as job creation.
“The strategic goal to transform Bai-Tushum and Partners from a microfinance company into a microfinance bank, set back in 2005, was successfully achieved thanks to the unwavering support of our shareholders: Microcredit Agency Bai-Tushum (majority shareholder, founded by ACDI/VOCA), Triple Jump (ASN-NOVIB Microfinance Fund), Bamboo Finance, and responsAbility (Global Microfinance Fund), as well as the hard work and dedication of our team,” noted Gulnara Shamshieva, General Manager of Bai Tushum Bank. “Our shareholders were instrumental in strengthening the chartered capital of the Bank, and contributed the international experience of highly qualified experts in banking and social finance,” explained Shamshieva. “I would like to especially emphasize the support of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, which ensured healthy competition in the local banking market, enabling strong and financially stable institutions to develop.”
Bai Tushum was originally established in 2000 by ACDI/VOCA, a US-based international development organization, with the support of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and CARITAS, a Swiss relief agency. Over the past 12 years, the company grew to one of the leading lending institutions in the Kyrgyz Republic, with total assets of $100 million. Today, Microfinance Bank Bai Tushum and Partners is the seventh largest bank in the Kyrgyz Republic serving over 30,000 clients.
