L. Joseph
Phone: (202) 473-7700
Fax: (202) 974-4384
E-mail: ljoseph@ifc.org


Vietnam, October 24, 2002—The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector development arm of the World Bank Group, will strengthen Vietnam’s capital markets and its institutional investor base with an investment of US$2 million in Dragon Capital Group Limited (Dragon Capital).

Founded in 1994 and incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, Dragon Capital is a diversified investment banking institution offering traditional financial products and services that focus exclusively on the Vietnamese capital markets.  The company is known within Vietnam as well as in international financial circles as one of the first Vietnam-focused financial institutions.  Dragon Capital serves the investment banking needs of international and domestic businesses to enable them to realize their investment goals in Vietnam.

Dragon Capital is also the fund manager of Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited (VEIL), a closed-end fund dedicated to Vietnam that invests in a balanced portfolio of Vietnamese companies.  Last year, IFC supported VEIL with a $12 million loan. Currently, VEIL has $64 million in gross assets.

Through this project, IFC will assist the company in the further development of its fund management and advisory services.  Based on its wide experience, IFC will also be able to strengthen Dragon Capital’s corporate governance practices making it a model financial institution for others to follow.

Karl Voltaire, Director of IFC’s Global Financial Markets Group said, “As Vietnam’s capital markets are at an early stage of development, institutions such as Dragon Capital can have a strong demonstration effect, contributing to the establishment of a competitive market structure.”

John Shrimpton, Director of Dragon Capital said, “We are extremely pleased to welcome the IFC as Dragon Capital’s first institutional shareholder.  With IFC’s support, we look forward to contributing to the further development of Vietnam’s capital markets.”

IFC’s mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives.  IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.  Since its founding in 1956, IFC has committed more than $34 billion of its own funds and arranged $21 billion in syndications for 2,825 companies in 140 developing countries.  IFC’s committed portfolio at the end of FY02 was $15.1 billion, with an additional $6.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.