Buenos Aires, 17
th
November, 2016
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is partnering with Banco Galicia to boost Argentina’s agribusiness industry by offering an array of services that will help drive energy efficiency and improve the competitive edge of this crucial sector for the country’s economy.
IFC will advise and work jointly with Banco Galicia to develop a program to support energy and resource efficiency for its agribusiness clients in Argentina. Through this project, IFC will support Banco Galicia in conducting market research to identify opportunities for enterprises in the agribusiness sector. The goal is to gauge their specific needs and design proposals that will help them improve their business while promoting sustainability best practices. The project will also strengthen the bank’s technical capacity to generate value for its clients and meet the needs of the market.
“Agribusiness is a key economic sector for Argentina and for Banco Galicia it represents a strategic business segment. We are committed to supporting the sector in upgrading their technologies to enhance productivity and competitiveness and ultimately contribute to the creation of employment. This partnership with IFC represents an opportunity to maintain Galicia’s leadership in the market by introducing innovative sustainable finance solutions to our clients”, said Fabián Kon, CEO of Banco Galicia.
The project targets an important sector of Argentina’s economy, which ranks as one of the largest in Latin America. Argentina is a leader in food production, with large scale industries in the sectors of agriculture and cattle ranching, accounting for 11% of gross domestic product. However, the rapid changes in the global market requires that this sector takes new initiatives to upgrade its practices and implements more sustainable and efficient production systems that will help improve its competitiveness. The Argentinean agribusiness sector offers great opportunities to adopt newer, highly efficient and cleaner technologies and processes that will allow it to retain its leadership.
The agreement also helps to further strengthen the partnership between IFC and Banco Galicia. Earlier in 2016 IFC agreed to provide $130 million to Banco Galicia to expand the bank’s long-term lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and to develop a new program to support climate finance projects in Argentina.
“The financial sector must play a crucial role as an engine of green and inclusive growth and our partnership with Banco Galicia will serve to promote the implementation in Argentina of international best-practices in this area,” said David Tinel, IFC’s country manager in Argentina. “Our work with financial institutions such as Banco Galicia, a leader in Argentina’s banking sector, is essential to IFC’s efforts to promote sustainable growth in the country,” said Tinel.
This new agreement will enable Banco Galicia to promote knowledge generation and capacity building with clients leveraging IFC global experience in sustainable energy finance, and to make use of the different tools available to finance environmentally-friendly projects, aligned with the country’s environmental strategy and commitments, and international best practices.
In Argentina, IFC has committed more than $2.1 billion in sustainable private sector projects over the past 15 months. IFC’s strategy in Argentina is focused on financing projects with significant development impact for spurring economic growth, innovation and job creation. Priority sectors include agribusiness, infrastructure and renewable energy; competitive manufacturing; strengthening long-term financing for companies, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and helping to improve investment climate for business start-ups and SMEs growth.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
.
About Banco Galicia
Banco Galicia is the second largest private sector bank in the financial system in Argentina, leader in the provision of financial services in the country and has a strong commitment to climate finance. The Bank is recognized as the market leader in its range of value propositions to give a full, close and sustainable coverage to its clients, making it ideally positioned to launch a product focused on Sustainable Finance.
