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Washington DC, June 29, 2015
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will lend US$60 million to Smithfield Romania
,
a leading pork producer and processor, to support the company’s plans to expand its farms and processing facilities in Romania. The investment will promote employment in the agribusiness sector and the spread of environmental, food safety, and animal husbandry best practices in Romania.
Smithfield Romania, which adheres to U.S. and E.U. standards for environment, health and safety has operations that cover pig production, feed milling, marketing, distribution and sales, allowing the company to trace its products from livestock to consumption.
Forty-five percent of Romanian citizens live in rural areas and over one-fourth are employed by agribusinesses. Although the country has arable land and water resources, it could be producing much more food. Developing Romania’s agribusiness sector is a priority for the World Bank Group’s partnership strategy with Romania.
“Pork accounts for half of all protein consumption in Romania and demand for pork remains strong, domestically and internationally. We are committed to meeting this demand with the highest performance standards for environment and social responsibility, including animal welfare,” said Dariusz Nowakowski, President of Smithfield Europe.
“Romania’s agribusiness sector holds great potential for generating employment and improving food security in the country and beyond,” said Alzbeta Klein, IFC Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services. “IFC is investing in industry leaders who are transferring higher standards, improving efficiency, and helping Romania contribute to global food security.”
“The Smithfield Foods global family understands the value of integrating sustainability into every daily aspect of our business,” said Dennis Treacy, Smithfield’s Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer.
“Each of us has a responsibility to the environment, our employees, our animals and our communities to never settle for what works well today,” Treacy said. “At Smithfield, we will never stop improving on how we manage our operations and what we produce from them. Producing ‘Good food. Responsibly.’ is much more than just a slogan for us"
Improving productivity in agriculture, promoting inclusive growth in rural areas, and helping companies find business opportunities through adoption of environmental and social best practices are part of IFC’s strategy for improving food security and rural incomes. In 2014, IFC made US$4 billion of agribusiness-related investments across the supply chain.
About Smithfield
Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Nathan's Famous®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. In Europe, the company’s brands include Krakus, Morliny, Berlinki, Mazury, Yano and Comtim. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit
www.smithfieldfoods.com
and
www.smithfieldcommitments.com
.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in about 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. In FY14, we provided more than $22 billion in financing to improve lives in developing countries and tackle the most urgent challenges of development. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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