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Promoting leasing in Early Transition Countries
EBRD organises training programmes – Seminar in Georgia starts Tuesday
Know-how transfer and the build-up of local expertise in the financial sector
have always been core objectives of the EBRD. In accordance with this the Bank
is organising a series of leasing training programmes in the following five
Early Transition Countries (ETCs): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and
Uzbekistan. The seminar in Georgia will begin on Tuesday, 28 November.
It follows two successful five-day training courses already held in Armenia
and Azerbaijan earlier this year. The series will be concluded with a
programme in Moldova and Uzbekistan during the first quarter 2007. The
trainings are undertaken under the ETC Initiative and funded by the ETC Multi
Donor Fund.
The goal of the programme is to promote leasing as a new financial instrument
for financing small and medium sized companies. The EBRD aims to provide the
necessary technical and commercial skills to leasing companies in each country
in order to develop the domestic leasing industry.
The EBRD’s Early Transition Countries Initiative, launched in April 2004,
currently includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova,
Mongolia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Using a streamlined approach to financing
medium scale private sector enterprises, the Initiative is aimed at mobilising
more investment, and encouraging economic reform.
EBRD activities in these countries are growing rapidly: Compared to 18
transactions worth €53 million and signed in 2003, the ETC Initiative has led
to 61 transactions worth €250 million being signed in 2005 and 70 expected
this year. Bilateral funds and multilateral donor funds, in particular the ETC
Multi-Donor Fund, are playing an important role both as catalysts for
investment and as providers of support for complementary technical assistance
programmes. Donors to the ETC Multi-Donor Fund currently include: Canada,
Finland, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, UK, and Taipei China.
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