Crown Princess Máxima: Current Events (Oct 2005-Feb 2006)

[carlota]

Welcome to the 1st thread for Crown Princess Máxima of The Netherlands' current events.

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A thread just for current news and events of Crown Princess Máxima. :)

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[Marengo]

Princess Maxima will NOT be attending the jordan statevisit. Instead she goes to Brazil from 28 november untill 1 december and to Argentina 4-7 december, as UN advisor for microcredit.

In Sao Paulo she will talk to Brazilian and Dutch banks, She will also visit some projects of two Brazilian banks in the outscirts of Sao Paulo. In Nova Trento she will visit people who receive micro credit who are working in agriculture. In Brasilia she will speak with representatives of the brazilian gouverment and to the president of the central bank.

In Argentina Maxima will visit the province of Jujuy where she will speak to an Arentinian bank and some of its customers. In Buenos Aires, at the Universita Catholica, Maxima will hold a speech about microcredit. She will also speak to representatives of financial institutions and their customers and with the presidet of the central bank and representatives of the gouverment.

source: www.koninklijkhuis.nl

[saphills]

From La Nacion (Arg)http://www.lanacion.com.ar/EdicionIm...nota_id=753263


La princesa Máxima visitará la Argentina
Vendrá en un viaje de trabajo

LA HAYA (EFE).- La princesa Máxima Zorreguieta, la esposa argentina del príncipe heredero de Holanda, Guillermo Alejandro, visitará en las próximas semanas la Argentina y Brasil para promocionar el acceso y la información sobre microcréditos, informó ayer la Casa Real holandesa en un comunicado.

Con motivo de su visita de trabajo, la princesa -que viaja en calidad de miembro del Grupo de Consejeros para el Año Internacional del Microcrédito- estará entre el 28 de este mes y el 1° de diciembre en Brasil y entre el 4 y el 7 de diciembre en la Argentina.

Durante su visita, Máxima se entrevistará con delegaciones gubernamentales, organizaciones no gubernamentales, directivos de bancos centrales y privados, y representantes de institutos de crédito en ambos países. El objetivo de la visita es el desarrollo de mecanismos que faciliten el acceso de la población a microcréditos.

En la Argentina, Máxima irá a la provincia de Jujuy, donde hablará con miembros del Banco Central de la Mujer y sus clientes en un mercado. Y en Buenos Aires, además, pronunciará un discurso sobre microfinanciación en la Universidad Católica Argentina (donde se licenció en Economía) y se entrevistará con miembros del gobierno.

En San Pablo, en tanto, visitará proyectos del Banco Real y Unibanco en barrios periféricos; en Nova Trento se entrevistará con clientes de una cooperativa de créditos activa en el sector agrario y en Brasilia, con representantes del gobierno y del Banco Central.

Desde su matrimonio en febrero de 2002, Máxima estuvo en la Argentina en visita privada por lo menos en dos ocasiones. El año pasado, la princesa pasó casi un mes de vacaciones en el país. Llegó el 9 de agosto de 2004 y su marido lo hizo dos semanas después. Estuvieron en Bariloche y en Villa la Angostura.

Antes de eso, los príncipes de Orange habían viajado a la Argentina en mayo de 2004 para asistir al matrimonio de una amiga.

[saphills]

Here we go again, I tried to do my best using a translator. Sorry again for not knowing the rules.

Princess Maxima will visit Argentina
She will come in a business trip

The Hague (EFE)
Princess Maxima Zorreguieta, the argentinian wife of the crown prince of Holland, Willem Alexander, will visit in the next weeks Argentina and Brazil to promote the access and the information on microcredits, informed yesterday the Dutch Real House in an official notice.
In the occasion of her work visit, the princess - who travels in quality of member of the Group of Advisors for the Year the International of Microcrédito- will be between the 28 of this month and 1° of December in Brazil and between Dec 4th and 7th in Argentina.
During her visit, Maxima will interview governmental delegations, nongovernmental, directive organizations of central banks and privates, and representatives of institutes of credit in both countries. The objective of the visit is the development of mechanisms that facilitate the access of the population on microcredits.
In Argentina, Maxima will go to the province of Jujuy, where she will speak with members of the Central Bank of the Woman and their clients in a market. And in Buenos Aires, she will pronounce a speech on microfinancing in the Catholic University Argentina (where she received the master's degree in Economy) and it will interview members of the government.
In San Pablo, she will visit projects of the Bank Real and Unibanco in peripheral areas; in Nova Trento she will be entrevistará with clients of a cooperative of credits activates in the agrarian sector and Brasilia, with representatives of the government and the Central bank.
Since her wedding in February of 2002, Maxima has been in Argentina in private visit at least in two occasions. The last year, the princess almost spent a month of vacations in the country. She arrived on Aug 9th 2004 and her husband arrived two weeks later. They were in Bariloche and Villa la Angostura.
Before that, the princes of Orange had traveled to Argentina in May of 2004 to attend the marriage of a friend.

[Marengo]

Thanks sapphils!

[The Watcher]

International Year of Microcredit 2005, UN International Forum to Build Inclusive Financial sectors, 7 November 2005, UN Headquarters New York.



Mr Chairman, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen – thank you. I am honoured to speak to you today as a member of the Advisors Group for the International Year of Microcredit 2005.


What better way to mark the end of the Year than to spend these days in the company of so many leading thinkers and practitioners, considering how to take microfinance forward. And then, at tomorrow’s gala dinner, to celebrate microentrepreneurs, who are the living proof that access to financial services can transform lives, empowering people to escape poverty by pursuing their dreams.


In my year as a member of the Advisors group, I had the privilege of meeting many micro-entrepreneurs on my travels: a seamstress and a pot maker in Nairobi, a medicine maker and a shop owner in Kampala who sold me a pretty dress for my daughter, and many more – a lot of them women who kindly sympathised with me everywhere I went during my pregnancy! It is striking how women are empowered by microfinance and not only economically. As you know, when you invest in a woman, you invest in her whole family. Her children go to school, the whole family gets better health care and she gets a voice in her community. I recall one lady, in a meeting of women entrepreneurs I attended in Kampala, saying that as her business succeeded, people started coming to her for advice on how to start a company and how to deal with all sorts of problems, including husbands!


I have long been a believer in the power of microfinance – not just microcredit, but the whole range of financial services that help people to manage their risks and have a better chance of fulfilling their potential. That is, affordable savings accounts, insurance and money transfer as well as loans. During the Year I have become more convinced than ever of the benefits of microfinance, not only in reducing poverty but also in building trust and dignity. By enabling entrepreneurship and empowering people, microfinance gives people the opportunity to determine for themselves what is best for them. Poor people do not want hand-outs: they want opportunities. Microfinance recognizes that poor and low-income people are dynamic and savvy businesspeople. The lady who sold me the dress for my daughter in Kampala also imported shoes. But her current shoe supplier was too expensive and she was considering switching to another supplier. Through her loan officer she found different possibilities in terms of price, quality and conditions of supply. I was amazed that this woman from distant Kampala, owning a small shop, knew so much about the global shoe market and knew perfectly well what was good for her business.


So as well as celebrating the end of the Year, we are here to think more about what needs to be done to ensure that many millions more people have access to affordable financial services. And there is much still to be done, especially if we are to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.


The biggest challenge is not how to do microfinance, but how to do it on a big enough scale to make a real macroeconomic difference. I and my fellow advisors are convinced that to move to the next level profitability will be crucial. Good financial services come at a cost, no matter what the social objective. To reach the very large number of poor people who need financial services, microfinance must become commercially viable. Microfinance should no longer base itself on charity. It should be a self-sustaining system. If we want to reach hundreds of millions of unbanked people, a viable, efficient and profitable microfinance system is essential.


Institutions I visited such as Equity Bank and KREP in Kenya, amongst many others, are good examples of why pursuing profits should be welcomed, not feared. Both are now profitable while banking the previously “unbanked”, providing them with a whole range of financial products. When I spoke to them, what really encouraged me was the fact that even as they grew and became more profitable, more than ever they thought primarily about their clients and how to serve them better.


Being profitable has enabled these institutions to provide credit and financial services to many, many more people, with greater efficiency and lower cost. Other microfinance providers should follow their example. But to do so, they will need a government and regulations that help them to achieve this, rather than getting in their way.


They will also need professionals, such as competent loan officers, internal auditors, treasurers, and so on. Currently, these professionals are in short supply in many developing countries. This is something where donors can help, and I encourage them – which means many of you – to invest in training the people who can make microfinance work.


There is also a need for mainstream financial services firms to get more involved in nurturing the growth of microfinance. At the start of the year, many of the bankers I spoke to were reluctant. The encouraging thing is that, after speaking with them some more, they started to get excited about the potential of this new market. Some of them even discovered that they were already involved in microfinance of some sort. Some of them realized that in their specific areas of expertise, there was something tangible that they could do. I applaud them, and urge others to join them. We need the experience of mainstream bankers to help this sector grow.


Lastly, a word about remittances, the billions of dollars, euros, and pounds sent back home. Although the fees they pay have started to come down, they are still far too high. I hear complaints about this everywhere I go, including in the Netherlands, from where immigrants send money to Morocco, Turkey, Ghana, Suriname, Ecuador and many other places.


In South Africa, I met a woman who received money from her son in England. She wanted to add another room to her one-room-house. Every time the money arrived from her son – worth much less after money transfer fees - she bought bricks and cement bags and put them next to her house until she had enough to build it. But when the rains came, more than a quarter of the building materials were damaged and destroyed. Imagine if the fees had been lower. Imagine if banks had offered her a bank account in which to save the money, or, even better, offered her a loan so that she could build the room right away. Banks should make much more of the opportunities created by what are, in many cases, highly predictable and regular remittance payments.


In closing, then, I believe that the Year of Microcredit has been a tremendous success. Great strides have been made in building inclusive financial sectors that can provide a pathway out of poverty for millions. Don’t forget that accessible financial services are as much part of the infrastructure that a country needs for its development as roads or electricity are. More hard work lies ahead; the Year is ending, but our efforts must continue. I ask not just for your commitment but also your action. There are still many millions of people out there who need affordable financial services. Let’s invest in them. They deserve it, and they are worth it.


Thank you.

[ap3]

No pictures?!

Nice speech, and I'm glad to know she is doing serious, thoughtful work. But I want some glamor shots too!

[Bevinda]

Can anyone get an audio version of her speech at the Microcredit meeting 2005? It would be really nice to hear her speak in English.

[Pink Tulip]

Yes Bevinda, I would like to see some video as well. I had a look on the net but only on English sites, and I couldn't find anything.

[purple_platinum]

i tried to browse for some pictures on the un site and the others, but no luck. perhaps someone else have better luck?
too bad the coverage of this un meeting is not as good as last year when they also have Mathilde of Belgium.

[Marengo]

I believe tonight or last night there was some kind of ball/ reception as well, but I have seen no pictures of it either.

I am impressed by the speech, she seems to be knowing what she is talking about, but then of course she has been a banker for many years. It makes me feel as this project of the UN realy makes a difference, let's hope it does.

[carlota]

a leave a photo i found in gettyimages of the last 2nd of november, the caption says: "Den Haag, NETHERLANDS: Dutch Princess Maxima (C) and Russian President Vladimir Putin's wife Lyudmila (R) listen to the general manager of the Mauritshuis museum Frederik J. Duparc during their visit in The Hague, 02 November 2005. "

to me she looks just as beautiful and elegant as always... love how she dresses :o

[carlota]

Originally Posted by carlota

a leave a photo i found in gettyimages of the last 2nd of november, the caption says: "Den Haag, NETHERLANDS: Dutch Princess Maxima (C) and Russian President Vladimir Putin's wife Lyudmila (R) listen to the general manager of the Mauritshuis museum Frederik J. Duparc during their visit in The Hague, 02 November 2005. "

to me she looks just as beautiful and elegant as always... love how she dresses :o

for this event, it wasn't just maxima who attended, there are more photos in the russian state visit thread: http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...-a-7751-3.html

[xxPatrickxx]

Originally Posted by Victoriys

Bravo!
She cames back home!

Her home is now here, in Holland! :)

[pollyemma]

Originally Posted by xxPatrickxx

Her home is now here, in Holland! :)

hear hear! i'm sure that's what Maxima would say too. and I'm dutch so of course I'm very proud to be able say that she belongs to us now!

[Layla1971]

Originally Posted by pollyemma

hear hear! i'm sure that's what Maxima would say too. and I'm dutch so of course I'm very proud to be able say that she belongs to us now!

Yeah, but her homeland will always have a special place in her heart! And, she must love visiting when she has the chance.

[xxPatrickxx]

I'm also very proud that I can say that Máxima our princess is!!

[Layla1971]

Originally Posted by xxPatrickxx

I'm also very proud that I can say that Máxima our princess is!!

That's really great to hear, Maxima appears to be a great person. And, I'm sure Argentina is very proud of her too. It must be comforting for Maxima to know that she is loved in her new country. It must help her to deal with the pressure of her position.
:) :)

[carlota]

let us, the argentinians, say that she is our argentinian princess as well, can we share her? :)

i'm so glad she is coming back to argentina, although on a bussiness trip. i also live somewhere else and know the sensation of coming back home!

[Layla1971]

I think we feel the same way about CP Mary of Denmark in Australia.
She was born here, but now she's Danish - in a way it's very confusing!:)