Bishkek, August 13, 2008—
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will advise Bai Tushum, one of the Kyrgyz Republic’s leading microfinance institutions, on ways to strengthen its mortgage lending operations. Bai Tushum has been providing mortgage loans since 2004 and is working to improve its mortgage portfolio.
IFC’s experts will analyze Bai Tushum’s mortgage lending and help establish an environmental management system aimed at making these operations more sustainable. IFC Executive Vice President and CEO Lars Thunell and Gulnara Shamshieva, Bai Tushum’s CEO, signed the advisory services agreement in a ceremony today.
Shamshieva of Bai Tushum said, “Cooperation with IFC is important for us to help people change their living conditions. We hope it will strengthen our institutional capacity and enable us to expand our mortgage portfolio.”
Thunell said, “IFC wants to help Bai Tushum make housing more affordable for people in the Kyrgyz Republic. We are optimistic that our support will strengthen Bai Tushum’s mortgage business, making it a model for other Kyrgyz financial institutions.”
The advisory work with Bai Tushum project is part of IFC’s strategy of helping the Kyrgyz government provide housing solutions to its low- and middle- income citizens. IFC is working on several initiatives to improve housing policies in the country and to strengthen the institutional capacity of local financial institutions.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by financing private sector investment, mobilizing private capital in local and international financial markets, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. IFC's vision is that people should have the opportunity to escape poverty and improve their lives. In FY07, IFC committed $8.2 billion and mobilized an additional $3.9 billion through syndications and structured finance for 299 investments in 69 developing countries. IFC also provided advisory services in 97 countries. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Bai Tushum
Bai Tushum was established in 1997 with the support of U.S.-based Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance and CARITAS, a Swiss relief agency. It provides microcredit services to private entrepreneurs, traders, farmers, and micro and small agricultural enterprises using individual and group lending methodologies. Bai Tushum has 10,000 clients, with most of its portfolio outside the capital, Bishkek.
