Washington D.C., Wednesday, May 12, 2005
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today signed an agreement to provide its first local currency loan of $4.5 million equivalent to Yüce Özel Eğitim ve Kültürel Hizmetleri A.Ş, located in Ankara, Turkey.
The Turkish Lira loan, which will be IFC’s first local currency financing in the country, will enable Yüce Schools to undertake a $9.8 million investment program to expand its enrollment by 40 percent, upgrade existing facilities, introduce a teachers’ training program, and seek the International Baccalaureate accreditation. IFC’s financing will also enable Yüce to further invest in educational software development. Yuce School, which was established in 1983, has pioneered Turkey’s scientific high school program as well as vocational ongoing training in information technology for adults and corporations.
Ms. Nina Shapiro, IFC Vice President, Finance, said, “IFC’s capacity to provide Turkish Lira financing will allow a better currency match in a sector which, for the most part, has domestically generated revenues.” She added, “The IFC financing demonstrates the Corporation’s commitment to support viable projects that improve access to high quality private education in Turkey. IFC has made a global effort to strengthen education in emerging markets through strategic private sector investments.”
Mr. Yücel Kalinyazgan, Chairman and General Manager of Yüce, responded, “We are very pleased to have IFC’s support and endorsement of our mission as a provider of high quality private education in a country where today’s young generation is Turkey’s future.”
Turkey accounts for about 6 percent of IFC's global investment commitments, representing the Corporation’s fifth-largest country exposure. IFC's committed portfolio in Turkey amounted to approximately $1 billion as of April 2005. IFC has been investing in Turkey since the mid-1960’s.
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 end of FY04 was $17.9 billion for its own account and $5.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
IFC's Health and Education Department provides project financing through a variety of financial instruments, including loans and direct equity investments as well as local currency financing. In addition to project financing, the department provides technical assistance to support its individual clients throughout the project process and also undertakes independent research to explore a multitude of issues facing the sector in different regions.
