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3,000th Trade Facilitation Programme deal signed
The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP) has reached another benchmark by
financing its 3,000th transaction. A letter of credit was issued under the
programme by Ineximbank Kyrgyz Republic to Turkish Garanti Bank for the import
of $55,000 worth of plastic window parts from Turkey by private Kyrgyz
importer Windoors LLC Bishkek.
The Trade Facilitation Programme supports trade to, from and within the EBRD’s
27 countries of operations. Under the TFP, the Bank guarantees payment
obligations of local issuing banks to their international confirming
counterparts in respect of trade-finance instruments. Since the start of the
programme in 1999, TFP has guaranteed letters of credit from four Kyrgyz
banks, confirmed by 13 foreign banks in nine countries.
Transaction number 3,000 is a good example of how the programme promotes trade
and brings both revenue and the culture of a cross-border economy to some of
the least advanced countries of the EBRD’s region, said Rudolf Putz, Operation
Leader of the programme. The development of small and medium-sized enterprises
is a fundamental objective of the Bank. SME transactions form the majority of
TFP business: More than 50 per cent of all deals concluded since the start of
the programme cover transactions below €100,000.
This year the programme is again poised to set a record in terms of
transactions completed. In 2003, the best year so far, the number of
transactions rose to 939 from 676 in 2002. The programme now includes over 80
issuing banks in the region with limits exceeding €700 million and about 500
confirming banks throughout the world.
The Trade Facilitation Programme is also an important tool in the EBRD’s new
initiative for Early Transition Countries to stimulate market activity in the
Bank’s poorest countries of operations by using a streamlined approach to
financing more and smaller projects.
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