Washington D.C., November 11, 2004
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will provide $20 million to the Acibadem Healthcare Group in Turkey to finance its expansion, which includes construction of two new hospitals. This is IFC’s second investment in Turkey’s health sector.
The new hospitals are the Kozyatagi hospital, a specialized oncology and neurosurgery hospital in Istanbul, and a general hospital in Bursa. Acibadem is a leading private provider of health care services in Istanbul. Its current operations consist of two full-service general hospitals and a network of ambulatory care facilities. The Bursa hospital is the first step in Acibadem’s strategic plan to expand to regions beyond Istanbul, where there has long been a need for high-quality private health care.
This project is part of IFC’s global efforts to strengthen health services in emerging markets through strategic private sector investments. IFC’s financing is an important vote of confidence in Acibadem. It demonstrates the Corporation’s commitment to support viable projects, which improve access to quality health care in Turkey and serve as examples of best practice for the industry. IFC has been investing in Turkey since the mid-1970’s. As of June 30th 2004, Turkey is IFC’s fifth largest country exposure with a portfolio of about $962 million.
The mission of IFC (
www.ifc.org
) is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY04, IFC has committed more than $44 billion of its own funds and arranged $23 billion in syndications for 3,143 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY04 was $17.9 billion for its own account and $5.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
