Sana’a, 11 June 2006
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and the Central Bank of Yemen today organized two workshops on financial leasing. The Central Bank of Yemen and IFC’s technical assistance facility, the Private Enterprise Partnership for the Middle East and North Africa, are collaborating to promote financial leasing as a means to increase access to finance for small and medium enterprises in Yemen. The goal is to raise awareness of the opportunities created by an active financial leasing sector, as well as to strengthen the regulations related to leasing.
The workshops provided government officials and representatives from financial institutions with a review of key issues related to legal, tax, and accounting aspects of leasing in a local and international context. The sessions covered international best practice and presented an analysis of the differences between leasing and other instruments of financing.
Leasing is an important source of medium- and long-term financing for companies in both developed and transition economies. An active leasing sector in Yemen will spur economic growth and job creation by increasing the productive sector’s ability to finance new investments.
IFC’s PEP-MENA manages the leasing development program as part of its strategy to strengthen local financial markets. The program is active in Afghanistan, Jordan, and Yemen and is expected to expand to other countries in the region.
PEP-MENA is IFC’s technical assistance facility that supports private sector development in the Middle East and North Africa. It focuses on improving the business enabling and regulatory environment; strengthening the financial sector; promoting the growth of small and medium enterprises and their support services, such as business organizations and consulting firms; helping restructure and privatize state-owned enterprises; and developing viable private sector and public-private partnership projects, especially in infrastructure.
The International Finance Corporation is the private sector arm of the World Bank Group and is headquartered in Washington, D.C. IFC coordinates its activities with the other institutions of the World Bank Group but is legally and financially independent. Its 178 member countries provide its share capital and collectively determine its policies.
The mission of IFC is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing and transition 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 FY05, IFC has committed more than $49 billion of its own funds and arranged $24 billion in syndications for 3,319 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY05 was $19.3 billion for its own account and $5.3 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
