Beijing, June 7, 2012
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is making a 10 million Chinese yuan ($1.6 million) equity investment in Urumqi Tianrong Microcredit Company to help establish the first Sino-Mongolian microfinance project in China. The project will expand access to finance for small businesses in China’s less-developed region of Xinjiang and support economic cooperation in Central Asia.
Urumqi Tianrong Microcredit Company is a joint venture of Mongolia-based TenGer Financial Group (TFG), IFC, and three other investors from China and Mongolia. TFG’s flagship subsidiary XacBank is a leading micro, small and medium enterprises finance provider in Mongolia and a globally recognized microfinance bank. IFC has been a long-term partner of TFG and XacBank since 1999, and holds a 13.5 percent stake in the group.
“Under the partnership with IFC, TFG has built up a sound business and a team of experienced professionals in the microfinance space,” said Bold Magvan, CEO of TenGer Financial Group. “Now we would like to replicate this model and share our lessons in other markets in the region, starting in Xinjiang.”
With IFC’s investment and technical advice, Tianrong is expected to open its first branch this fall and provide loans worth more than $200 million to around 15,000 small businesses in the next couple of years.
“IFC has been actively working with clients and partners to promote sustainable South-South development through joint investment and knowledge-sharing,” said IFC’s Director for East Asia and the Pacific Sérgio Pimenta, who is in Beijing for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation gathering. “This project can serve as an example of regional economic collaboration. It will not only support the economic development of China’s westernmost region, but also help a leading Mongolian financial institution grow into a regional player.”
According to China’s National Bureau of the Statistics, Xinjiang has among the lowest per capita GDP in the country. Xinjiang is also China’s largest region and borders several Central Asian states including Mongolia and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation members Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, we helped our clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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