Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 24
By Fakhri Vakilov - Trend:
Dutch Development Bank FMO allocated a 4-year loan to Uzbek Ipak Yuli bank in the amount of $20 million, representative of the bank told Trend in an interview.
"FMO’s loan has been funded in local currency, which is scarcely available for medium to long terms. The loan will be used to finance a combination of women, youth, agriculture Micro and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) customers of Ipak Yuli Bank, which contributes to FMO's Reducing Inequalities target," the official noted.
In addition, the representative stated, the loan will partially be used to finance Green projects, supporting FMO's Climate Action target. Finally, this new transaction with Ipak Yuli Bank deepens FMO’s relationship with this highly valued customer.
As bank’s official stressed the loan meets the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 5, 8, 10 and 13 by supporting women and young (agricultural) Micro and SME entrepreneurs, with access to finance and by addressing climate action.
"Furthermore, this loan provides Ipak Yuli Bank with stable long term funding, which indirectly contributes to supporting job creation, job maintenance and economic growth," the representative stated.
The official noted that Micro and SMEs are the core of the Uzbek economy. In 2016 SMEs generated 60 percent of the country’s GDP and provided more than 75 percent of total jobs. Access to credit remains critical for further development of the MSME segment.
The official also talked about solutions FMO may bring to Uzbek finance sector.
"This is a combination of: knowledge transfer; medium to long term capital investments in local and hard currency (debt and equity); and contributing to improved best practices in areas such as corporate governance, environmental & social risk management and consumer protection".
FMO is a public-private partnership which supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs.
The bank focus on the private sector in three industries: Energy, Financial Institutions and Agribusiness, Food & Water.
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