Paris, France, 4 March 2010 - His Highness the Aga Khan delivered introductory remarks at a conference in Paris co-hosted by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank. The Marketplace on Innovative Financial Solutions for Development seeks to garner and highlight fresh ideas on financial solutions for development. It is dedicated to innovative financial mechanisms for better mobilizing, channeling, and using funds. The conference brings together an internationally diverse set of hundreds of development practitioners, donors, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, academics, representatives from a range of financial institutions, civil society, and policy makers.