Warsaw, Poland, July 2, 2001
─The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has expanded its office in Poland to function as its regional hub for the Baltic countries and Central Europe. The countries that will be covered by the Warsaw-based regional office are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic and Poland.
The expansion of the Warsaw office into a regional hub is part of IFC’s decentralization strategy to build stronger relationships with clients and governments by engaging more actively in the field. Staff from Washington and other Central European country offices will join the new regional hub enabling IFC to reinforce its project finance and technical assistance operations.
Mr. Edward Nassim, IFC’s Director for Central and Eastern Europe, said that Warsaw’s location in the heart of Europe and its easy flight connections made it the right choice for IFC’s hub in the region. Mr. Nassim added that Central Europe is an important region for IFC with a portfolio of close to US$700 million. He also said that IFC looks forward to continue assisting regional efforts to strengthen financial institutions and industrial sectors, as well as to support steps toward European Union accession
.
Mr. Laurence Carter, newly appointed Regional Representative of the Warsaw hub, said that a key objective of the expanded office in Warsaw will be better monitoring of IFC’s portfolio and targeted project promotion in order to deepen development impact and enhance sustainability.
The mission of IFC (
www.ifc.org
), part of the World Bank Group, is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, as a way to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in emerging markets, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.
