Washington, D.C. June 5, 2013
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (BTMU) have announced the launch of a $200 million facility to expand access to finance for agricultural producers and energy traders in developing countries across Asia.
IFC will share up to 50 percent of the risk on a portfolio of commodity trade transactions originated by BTMU. The facility will provide working capital for as many as 30 borrowers who are active in the trade of grains, coffee, cotton, sugar, and other commodities throughout Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and elsewhere in East and South Asia.
“This partnership with BTMU forms a key part of IFC strategy in supporting access to finance for critical commodities in the East and South Asia regions,” said Georgina Baker, IFC Director for Global Trade and Supply Chain Solutions. “We hope that our example will encourage further investment by global and regional financial institutions in this strategic sector, which is integral to economic development and job creation in emerging markets.”
The agricultural commodities sector represents a critical economic activity in commodity-dependent emerging markets. These countries rely on trade for foreign exchange earnings, fiscal revenues, income growth, employment, and livelihood sustenance.
“As BTMU takes an increasingly active role in the commodities trade finance space, our partnership with IFC is integral to expanding the services we can provide to our clients and the markets we are able to cover,” said Hiroaki Makino, General Manager of Asian Investment Banking Division at BTMU.
Continued availability of commodities trade finance is crucial to provide market access to producers, processors, aggregators, intermediaries, and traders along the value chain, as well as to maintain farmers’ incomes and economic growth, especially in the poorest countries.
IFC’s partnership with BTMU marks the fourth facility under the Critical Commodities Finance Program (CCFP), launched in March 2012. The program works with banks to sustain and expand the availability of commodities trade finance for agricultural producers in emerging markets and energy importers in countries eligible to borrow from the International Development Association. In 15 months, the CCFP has supported over $5.5 billion in emerging market commodities trade.
About The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
BTMU is the largest bank in Japan and was established in 2006 with the merger of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, Ltd. and UFJ Bank Ltd. The bank serves as the core retail and commercial banking arm of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the largest and most diversified financial groups in Japan.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
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