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IFC Supports Private Sector Growth and Investment Climate Reform in Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 3, 2009—IFC,
a member of the World Bank Group, today pledged to increase its investments
and advisory services in Bangladesh to help the country strengthen its
private sector, create jobs, and better mitigate climate change.
During her official visit to Dhaka, Rachel Kyte, IFC Vice President for
Business Advisory Services, met with the Bangladesh Bank governor, key
government officials, businessmen and women from various sectors, and a
cross-section of young people. She emphasized IFC’s support for Bangladesh’s
efforts to improve its investment climate and its work helping smaller
businesses become more competitive.
Kyte congratulated Bangladesh for achieving
recognition as the fastest reformer in the region, according to the World
Bank Group’s 2009 Doing Business report, and praised the government’s
vision of a digital Bangladesh. She also highlighted IFC’s recent banking
sector work to introduce sustainable energy finance and applauded Eastern
Bank’s first investment in a renewable energy plant in a small dairy farm—the
first of many environmentally supportive investments to come.
“IFC is delivering on its commitment
to support the private sector’s contribution to Bangladesh’s economic
growth, job creation, and poverty reduction,” Kyte said. “Today we commit
to strengthening our partnership with Bangladesh to encourage reform and
private sector investment that will improve lives and help the economy
thrive.”
Kyte also spoke about IFC’s latest
investments in Bangladesh in Frontier PE, Bangladesh’s first private equity
fund, to support private sector growth; and in PRAN Group agro-processers,
to expand opportunities for farmers.
IFC’s office in Bangladesh handles investments and has two advisory service
facilities. The SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility, in partnership
with the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development and
Norad, aims to improve the private sector and help small and medium enterprises
perform, compete, and grow. The Bangladesh Investment Climate Fund, in
partnership with DFID and the European Commission, works with the government
to improve the investment climate through regulatory reform and special
economic zones.
Bangladesh was the first stop on Kyte’s two-country visit, which also
will take her to Delhi, where she will discuss how IFC advisory services
and investments can have the greatest developmental impact on India’s
economy.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group,
creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives.
We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting
private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory
and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments
totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing
countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
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