THE REASONS FOR MICROFINANCE AT OSAKA2025

The National Microcredit Agency (ENM) is participating in the Osaka 2025 World Expo, representing the best practices in ethical finance developed over the years. Microfinance as a tool for individual and social development represents an important opportunity for those belonging to disadvantaged social groups who have no other financing options. Microcredit is also a vehicle for international cooperation that can be counted among the factors useful for promoting economic and financial culture, which contributes to the stability and growth of countries, as well as to the growth of individuals through economic stability and individual freedom as a path to emancipation. The Agency has structured the ‘Italian way of microcredit’ that it is proposing in Japan at the Italian Pavilion through an agreement signed with the Commissioner for Expo, the objectives and motivations of which are outlined below.

ENM’s mission is characterised by an ethical vision of finance, the Ente intends to represent the main point of reference for public administrations and stakeholders interested in the development of microcredit in Italy and Europe, in developing countries and in economies in transition, for this reason its activity is oriented towards supporting initiatives aimed at encouraging the development of micro-entrepreneurship and self-employment, as well as the fight against poverty and the financial inclusion of those social categories defined as “non-bankable” due to the lack or shortage of guarantees to be offered to the traditional banking system.

This mission is part of an ethical vision of finance, which considers financial activity (and thus the use of money) as a means and not as an end, having as its reference the human and social promotion of individuals. On the basis of this vision, the organisation sees microcredit not as a form of ‘welfarism’ or ‘charity’, but as a real loan aimed at developing entrepreneurial projects or implementing projects to improve the personal or family living conditions of the weaker sections of the population.

In keeping with the themes of Expo 2025 Osaka, the aim of the event is to promote the innovation, growth and internationalisation of microcredit and microfinance, and in particular of the “Italian way to microcredit” as an instrument of social and financial promotion and integration, in the promotion of the Millennium Goals of which microcredit is an instrument and expression.

Expo 2025 Osaka also represents a precious opportunity to bring creativity, industry, art and work into dialogue, through an exhibition that recounts the evolution of microfinance in Italy and the world as an instrument of preventive diplomacy.

In agreement with the Extraordinary Commissioner for Expo 2025 Osaka, Ambassador Mario Vattani and the President of the National Microcredit Agency, Mario Baccini, signed an agreement to collaborate on an initiative to promote microcredit and microfinance in order to strengthen national and international public-private partnerships, with a focus on the activities of the Italian way to microcredit, and to enhance the commitment to cooperation in the fight against social and financial exclusion for the achievement of the millennium goals. In the agreement it is proposed to implement activities to promote the Italian system of microcredit, involving (companies, investors, start-ups) to create opportunities for the internationalisation of SMEs and the attraction of international investors; finally, to contribute to the promotion of the Italian way to microcredit in the field of art and business culture in the spaces of the Pavilion, through text and multimedia stories of microcredit experiences.

The aim of Universal Expositions is to promote industrial and technological progress on a global level, showcasing the latest technical, scientific and cultural innovations that contribute to improving the social and economic living conditions of people and the planet; the overall theme of Expo 2025 Osaka is “Designing Future Society for our Lives” and the sub-themes are: Saving Lives (protecting and saving the lives of individuals), Empowering Lives (enhancing the lives of individuals and expanding their potential), Connecting Lives (enhancing the social capital and participation of individuals, generating communities).

The Universal Exposition is - by its very nature - an international event because of the number and nature of the expected participating countries, the large flow and diverse origin of the expected visitors, the nature of the international relationships that will be developed, the consistency of the cooperation projects that will be activated, the cultural and human capital exchanges that will be generated by this event, and the nature and global nature of the theme chosen by the Organisers.

The Body derives directly from the “National Microcredit Agency”, set up in 2004 as the body responsible for organising events relating to the “2005 International Year of Microcredit”, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UN Resolutions 53/197 and 58/221) in order to promote the achievement of the Millennium Goals.

Expo 2025 Osaka will be an enabling platform for the realisation of the “Society 5.0” Plan launched by the Japanese Government with the aim of realising a “Super Smart Society” that leverages the transversal use of new technologies (Big Data, Robotics, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence) to respond to the needs of societies and individuals, putting the person at the centre of all economic and social dynamics.

Expo 2025 Osaka will provide an opportunity to take stock of the efforts undertaken to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and imagine a future society that ideally goes beyond the 2030 Agenda Goals.

Italy and Japan, both G7, G20 and OECD members, are linked by more than 150 years of political and diplomatic relations, as well as by intense economic exchanges based on the vitality of SMEs and their conglomeration into industrial districts with particular reference to the sectors of: art, culture, design, sport, aerospace, life sciences (genomics, biopharma, diagnostics, humanoid robotics, silver economy), mechatronics, energy transition, sustainable mobility, artificial intelligence, environment, agribusiness, textiles, fashion, performing arts (cinema, music, dance, theatre); project culture, craft skills, creative thinking and the nature-technology-humanity relationship have always linked cultures and artistic expressions in Italy and Japan, with particular reference to activities to combat social and financial exclusion through the promotion of microcredit and microfinance; the Commissioner intended to give space to artistic research and experimentation in a broadly interdisciplinary sense, with the ability to represent social issues such as diversity, sustainability and inclusion in which the organisation fully represents itself.