KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) — At least 1,500 delegates from 40 countries will meet in Jamaica in October as the Caribbean Community (Caricom) country hosts FOROMIC 2016.

FOROMIC, which is described as a space for business and financial innovation, as well as a platform for microfinance, is being organised by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF).

The October 24-26 event will be held under the theme ‘Creating Opportunities through Financial Inclusion’.

At the opening ceremony, FOROMIC will honour winners of the Inter-American Awards for Financial and Entrepreneurial Innovation, locally and internationally.

This is the first time that Jamaica will be hosting FOROMIC, referred to as Latin America and the Caribbean’s largest and most important annual event on financial inclusion, financial innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The first FOROMIC was held in 1998 as a space to promote innovations in the micro finance and medium and small enterprise development sectors.

The organisers said that 18 such events have been held since and “it has demonstrated that serving low-income households and small businesses is possible, sustainable and profitable.

“Also, experience has shown that financially active and empowered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises constitute one of the most effective ways to overcome the challenges of poverty,” the organisers said in a statement.