In Banda Aceh
Puni A. Anjungsari
Phone: + 62 81-88-77-016
Email: panjungsari@ifc.org

In Hong Kong
Andrew Mak
Phone: + 852 2509-8110
Email: amak@ifc.org


Banda Aceh, March 15, 2007 – Australia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, is  welcoming the upcoming launch of the Aceh Investment Outreach Office, which takes place this month.  The office has been set up with support from IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.

“This effort is a symbol of Aceh’s economic revival,” said Farmer following a recent visit to the offices. “It is time for Aceh to regain strength, rebuild its economy, and leave behind its image as a region ravaged by the tsunami.”

The Aceh Investment Outreach Office opens its doors on March 29, 2007, with high-ranking government officials, trade attachés from foreign embassies, and members of the international business chambers attending.  It will play a major role in supporting the region’s economic revival, providing potential investors with information, contacts, advice on regulatory requirements, and policy advocacy. It will also support private sector investment and job creation, as the province embarks on economic revival following years of civil conflict and the December 2004 tsunami.

The Aceh Investment Outreach Office is a joint initiative of the Office of the Governor of Aceh, the Regional Investment Board, the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, the World Bank Group’s Foreign Investment Advisory Service, and IFC. Under the motto “Servicing the Investor,” it will use a client service-oriented approach to serve investors from the beginning to the end of their investments and beyond.

“Establishing this office is the beginning of a larger process,” said David Lawrence, Program Coordinator for IFC Advisory Services in the region—the Private Enterprise Partnership for Aceh & Nias. “There are several other steps the Aceh government needs to take to create a friendly-business climate, such as enacting a new investment law. IFC is confident it will continue to take necessary steps to support private sector development and improve the investment climate.”

The Aceh Investment Outreach Office recently received a letter of support from the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who said the establishment of the office reflects “a progressive view on how to encourage investment.”  He added that it “offers an important model for others to follow.”

The new office held a soft launch in November 2006 and has already provided services to eight foreign and domestic companies across a number of sectors. “We are the gateway to Aceh for investors,” said Syafrudin Chan, who heads it.  “We are a friend that they can count on.”

About IFC
IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, promotes open and competitive markets in developing countries.  IFC supports sustainable private sector companies and other partners in generating productive jobs and delivering basic services, so that people have opportunities to escape poverty and improve their lives. Through FY06, IFC Financial Products has committed more than $56 billion in funding for private sector investments and mobilized an additional $25 billion in syndications for 3,531 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC Advisory Services and donor partners have provided more than $1 billion in program support to build small enterprises, to accelerate private participation in infrastructure, to improve the business enabling environment, to increase access to finance, and to strengthen environmental and social sustainability. For more information, please visit www.ifc.org.

About IFC PEP Aceh & Nias
IFC Private Enterprise Partnership for Aceh & Nias is a multidonor initiative with support of the Australian government. It works to promote private sector development and investment in Aceh and Nias. Building on successful IFC programs, it aims to develop the local business service sector, improve the business and investment environment, restore livelihoods in strategic sectors, and increase access to finance to enterprises ravaged by the 2004 earthquake and tsunami.