World Bank Group President Paul Wolfowitz Signs Agreement in Turkey, Reaffirms Commitment to Creating Jobs While Preserving Environment
Istanbul, Turkey, January 29, 2007 -
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, today signed a cooperation agreement with Modern Karton - one of Turkey’s largest industrial packaging manufacturers - to assess increasing wastepaper separation and collection from households and small shops in the Istanbul metropolitan area by introducing a formal collection system.
Funded jointly by IFC and Modern Karton, the program will also focus on how to integrate informal participants in wastepaper collection, such as street collectors, into the recyling supply chain. Formalizing their role and increasing the flow of recycled paper are expected to create job opportunities for this segment of the population.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on a visit to Turkey, World Bank Group President Paul Wolfowitz said, “IFC’s involvement in this program underscores the World Bank Group’s commitment to developing good practice models for creating employment opportunities while preserving the environment. We are pleased to partner with Modern Karton, local municipalities, and the informal sector in looking at ways to improve recycling in Turkey’s private, public, and informal sectors. This will help catalyze new opportunities for street collectors and small businesses.”
The program is part of IFC linkages programs, advisory services that aim to strengthen small and medium enterprises through business links to IFC’s investment projects.
“Modern Karton, an industry leader in corrugated packaging, is keen to extend our impact in the community. Pilot approaches like this help minimize our environmental footprint and enhance income-generating opportunities in the collection chain,” said Ahmet Eren, President of Modern Karton.
About Modern Karton
A subsidiary of the Eren Group, Modern Karton is the largest private sector producer of corrugated packaging materials in Turkey, with the eighth-largest capacity in Europe. The company operates the largest paper mill in Turkey, with a production capacity of 300,000 tons, and it is building a second mill with a production capacity of 400,000 tons. Modern Karton is a leader in promoting non-wood fibers for paper packaging, with all of its raw material requirements met by wastepaper. Eren is the Turkey’s leader in collecting wastepaper, at about 35 percent of the market.
About IFC Linkages
IFC’s linkages programs allow the Corporation to increase value-added services to clients in improving their business, while increasing the development impact of IFC investments. Most linkage programs focus on using an anchor investor, such as Modern Karton, to provide income- and employment-generating activities for local communities, or make efforts to integrate local SMEs into the supply/value chain of an IFC investment client.
About IFC
The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral provider of financing for private enterprise in developing countries. IFC finances private sector investments, mobilizes capital in international financial markets, facilitates trade, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to businesses and governments. From its founding in 1956 through FY06, IFC has committed more than $56 billion of its own funds for private sector investments in the developing world and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. With the support of funding from donors, it has also provided more than $1 billion in technical assistance and advisory services. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
