Qamar Saleem

QAMAR SALEEM leads SME Finance Forum which is global network of over 300 members and affiliates, mostly financial sector stakeholders, covering over 190 countries. The forum is managed by IFC at World Bank Group, with an objective to expand access to finance and services for small and medium businesses globally. Prior to this role, Qamar Saleem was heading IFC’s Financial Institutions Group Advisory Services business for Asia and Pacific aimed at providing integrated investment and advisory client solutions across SME, Climate, Digital, Housing, Trade, Capital Markets, Women entrepreneurship, Agri Finance and Supply Chain Finance. Qamar has been with IFC since 2012 and served in his previous roles as global technical lead for SME and Supply Chain Finance. Qamar has overall 30+ years of global financial services experience having supported financial institutions and regulators across 80+ countries internationally, managing large business lines while leading multi-cultural and cross-functional teams. He is a recognized thought leader, featured speaker, and an industry mentor with several publications and thought pieces to his credit. Prior to IFC, for a period of two decades, Qamar was associated in leadership roles with international organizations like HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank as well as large regional banks in MENA while serving in several emerging markets where he also led SME Banking, Transaction Banking, Retail Banking and Commercial Banking Divisions.