Washington D.C., January 7, 2005—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today announced a $2.5 million Matching Grant Program that will match the costs incurred in post-tsunami relief work by selected partner companies in Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. This will enable companies to step up their participation in the relief effort. The IFC program will be targeted at alleviating infrastructure and distribution bottlenecks for relief operations and providing emergency health services and clean water.
Numerous private companies in IFC’s portfolio are playing a vital role in emergency relief work in the affected countries. Using the assets, expertise, and people they have on the ground, they are contributing to the rapid delivery of relief supplies by providing telecommunications, logistics, health care, and other critical services. This complements the work of governments, NGOs, and international relief agencies.
Peter Woicke, IFC’s Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the World Bank Group for private sector development, noted, “Through this program, we will leverage existing client relationships in the region to support firms that have the resources on the ground to respond rapidly to emergency needs, complementing the normal channels of emergency aid funding. As part of our strategy to support corporate social responsibility, we hope this program will encourage greater corporate participation in relief efforts.”
Under a separate but related initiative, IFC is in discussion with affected companies in the tourism and infrastructure sectors and with local financial institutions to provide financing for reconstruction and recovery. New IFC investments to support these projects in the affected countries will be announced shortly.
IFC will also build on its small and medium enterprise (SME) development programs in the region to provide technical assistance to enable SMEs in the affected areas to rebuild their businesses and participate in reconstruction and economic recovery.
Promoting SME development in the emerging markets is a core part of IFC’s private sector development strategy in Asia and other regions. Through its various donor-supported project development facilities, IFC has successfully supported small businesses and helped private banks build up lending through sustainable methods that do not require subsidized government funding.
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.
