2025 Asia Grassroots Forum in Bali Draws Global Investor Interest in the Grassroots Economy

Korea Herald

23-05-2025

Robust attendance at the 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum in Bali on May 22, 2025 reflects growing global interest in impact investing in Asia, and highlights the potential of the grassroots economy.
BALI, Indonesia, May 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum hosted by Amartha in collaboration with Accion, Women's World Banking and Maj Invest concluded today in Bali. Themed " Scaling Impact, Pioneering an Entrepreneurial Society," the event brought together over 700 investors, policymakers, changemakers, and innovators from more than 15 countries to spotlight the potential of Asia's grassroots economy.
"The grassroots economy holds immense untapped possibilities in ASEAN and the Global South," said Amartha Founder and CEO Andi Taufan Garuda Putra. "We know this from our experience at Amartha, empowering over 3.3 million rural borrowers in Indonesia over the past 15 years. Together with our partners and the delegates here today, it is inspiring to see that so many stakeholders, including global players, are increasingly aware and willing to take action."
According to the 2024 Impact Investing in Asia Report, global investors are increasing their focus to Southeast Asia, with 49 percent planning to expand their allocations throughout 2025. The report also reported that 89 percent of Asia-focused impact investors surveyed reported that their financial returns were outperforming or performing in line with expectation. [1]
Over a full day of dynamic discussions among thought leaders, policymakers, investors, startups, NGOs, innovators and academics, participants explored how to catalyze bottom-up growth, along with its opportunities and challenges.
Speakers at the 2025 Asia Grassroots Investments included impact investing representatives from Accion, Women World's Banking, Maj Invest, BEENEXT, LeapFrog, Abler Nordic, UOB Venture Management and Teja Ventures, as well as global banks such as Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank. Also in attendance were policymakers, venture capital firms, BNI Ventures, Mandiri Capital Indonesia, microfinance, fintechs, academics, changemakers and innovators, and more.
Njord Andrewes, Managing Partner, Accion Digital Transformation, said, "Companies like Amartha are unlocking the potential of the grassroots economy in a sustainable way, showing that serving this segment can deliver social impact and financial returns. With small businesses vital for the continued growth of emerging markets, there is now global interest in the potential of the grassroots economy. We are partnering with Amartha to provide both strategic support and growth capital, as they connect businesses across Indonesia to responsible financial services for the first time using digital technologies."
Within the ASEAN grassroots economy, MSMEs make up 97% of the private sector, contributing to 85% of the labor force, 45% of regional GDP, and 10–30% of exports. [2] However, many MSMEs In emerging economies and developing countries still face significant barriers, the more so for women. For example, women-owned businesses in these areas face an $1.9 trillion financing gap, highlighting the significant barriers women entrepreneurs face in accessing financing. [3]
Sanjay Sehgal, Managing Director & CIO of Women's World Banking noted, "We believe gender-lens investment is essential to promoting inclusive growth. Partnering with organizations like Amartha, which shares our commitment to reaching women in underserved rural areas, allows us to design and scale solutions that are truly inclusive. By embedding gender-intentional strategies into financial services, we can close the gender gap and build more resilient, equitable economies for all".
Addressing this gap, Amartha's success in using tech to serve rural female micro-entrepreneurs at scale has attracted the support of global institutional investors including IFC, Women's World Banking, Accion, Community Investment Management, and many more.
"The aim of the 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum is to build interest and cross-sector partnership from investors and other stakeholders, including policymakers and innovators, to harness technology and capital towards inclusive growth for all," finished Taufan.
About Amartha
PT Amartha Mikro Fintek (Amartha) has a mission to improve the welfare of the grassroots segment, through digital financial services for the grassroots segment. Founded in 2010, Amartha is now growing to build a microfinance ecosystem through capital loan, risk segmentation and payment services. Amartha advances the bottom of the pyramid by increasing the competitiveness of MSMEs. Thus, we empower more women's MSMEs, create jobs and build more inclusive economic growth.
As of September 30, 2024, Amartha, which is licensed and supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), has disbursed working capital loans of more than 35 trillion rupiah to 3.3 million MSMEs, of which more than 90 percent are led by women, spread across more than 50,000 villages throughout Indonesia.
The 2025 Asia Grassroots Forum, hosted by Amartha, is a critical meeting place for entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers and innovators across Asia to address the most pressing challenges in emerging markets. The forum will be held on 21 - 23 May 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua Bali, with the aim of accommodating concrete ideas from stakeholders to generate innovations that drive the progress of the grassroots economy in Asia.