Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 3, 2009
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today pledged to increase its investments and advisory services in Bangladesh to help the country strengthen its private sector, create jobs, and better mitigate climate change.
During her official visit to Dhaka, Rachel Kyte, IFC Vice President for Business Advisory Services, met with the Bangladesh Bank governor, key government officials, businessmen and women from various sectors, and a cross-section of young people. She emphasized IFC’s support for Bangladesh’s efforts to improve its investment climate and its work helping smaller businesses become more competitive.
Kyte congratulated Bangladesh for achieving recognition as the fastest reformer in the region, according to the World Bank Group’s 2009
Doing Business
report, and praised the government’s vision of a digital Bangladesh. She also highlighted IFC’s recent banking sector work to introduce sustainable energy finance and applauded Eastern Bank’s first investment in a renewable energy plant in a small dairy farm—the first of many environmentally supportive investments to come.
“IFC is delivering on its commitment to support the private sector’s contribution to Bangladesh’s economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction,” Kyte said. “Today we commit to strengthening our partnership with Bangladesh to encourage reform and private sector investment that will improve lives and help the economy thrive.”
Kyte also spoke about IFC’s latest investments in Bangladesh in Frontier PE, Bangladesh’s first private equity fund, to support private sector growth; and in PRAN Group agro-processers, to expand opportunities for farmers.
IFC’s office in Bangladesh handles investments and has two advisory service facilities. The SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility, in partnership with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and Norad, aims to improve the private sector and help small and medium enterprises perform, compete, and grow. The Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund, in partnership with DFID and the European Commission, works with the government to improve the investment climate through regulatory reform and special economic zones.
Bangladesh was the first stop on Kyte’s two-country visit, which also will take her to Delhi, where she will discuss how IFC advisory services and investments can have the greatest developmental impact on India’s economy.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
