Yangon, Myanmar, February 28, 2019 —IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a $20million financing to METRO Wholesale Myanmar Limited to help create jobs, raise food safety standards, and benefit the country’s food suppliers, buyers, and consumers.
METRO Wholesale Myanmar offers a one-stop wholesale food service distribution for hotels, restaurants, catering firms, independent small retailers, and offices. It is a joint venture partnership between METRO AG, a leading global specialist in wholesale food and Yoma Strategic Holdings Limited, a publicly listed business corporation in Singapore with a diversified portfolio of businesses in real estate, consumer, and financial services in Myanmar.
Progress in the agricultural sector was directly responsible for at least 46% of the reduction in poverty between 2005-2015 in Myanmar. With IFC’s investment, METRO Wholesale Myanmar will drive up agricultural incomes and help reduce poverty as well as improve the quality and availability of local produce, benefiting buyers and end consumers. It will help METRO Wholesale Myanmar source majority of its produce from local farmers and companies, raising food safety standards and creating more than 300 jobs for both women and men and significant indirect employment in food processing and logistic services.
Jens Michel, CEO of METRO Wholesale Myanmar, shared “With IFC’s support, we are able to initiate our operation more efficiently after building a state of the art warehouse and distribution center in Yangon’s Thilawa Special Economic Zone. This platform stores, processes, and distributes raw and fresh food products along with non-food and fast moving consumer goods. In addition, it benefits from a modern value added service area, the first of its kind in Myanmar, which undertakes rigorous quality checks and tailor made solutions allowing customers to order online virtually for doorstep deliveries.”
“IFC’s investment in METRO Wholesale Myanmar is another affirmation of our commitment to improve the quality of agricultural produce in Myanmar. The aim is to ensure the availability of safe, high-quality foods from the farm to fork, increasing the agribusiness sector’s export potential,” said Vikram Kumar, IFC Country Manager for Myanmar and Thailand. He added, “This investment has already contributed to promoting inclusive growth as it is benefitting farmers and will eventually benefiting small and medium enterprises, and service providers along the value chain, thereby creating more jobs.”
METRO Wholesale Myanmar is one of the first companies in the sector to adopt energy efficient building standards. The company’s warehouse in Thilawa is compliant with IFC’s EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) standards by incorporating cost-effective green building features into its design.
IFC is already working with local food producers and the Myanmar government to provide training in food safety management systems, reforming regulations, and improving business environment in the agribusiness sector. Since 2013 IFC has invested and mobilized over $1.3 billion in Myanmar.
About IFC
IFC—a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In fiscal year 2018, we delivered more than $23 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org
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About METR O
METRO is a leading international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specialises on serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent traders. Around the world, METRO has some 24 million customers who can choose whether to shop in one of the large-format stores, order online and collect their purchases at the store or have them delivered. METRO in addition also supports the competitiveness of entrepreneurs and own businesses with digital solutions and thereby contributes to cultural diversity in retail and hospitality. Sustainability is a key pillar of METRO’s business. METRO has been the sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the last four years. The company operates in 36 countries, represented by METRO Cash & Carry and Food Service Distribution, and employs more than 100,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2017/18, METRO Wholesale division generated sales of €29.5 billion.
METRO Cash & Carry is an integral part of METRO wholesale division, operating in 26 countries and focusing on professional customers such as hotels, restaurants, caterers as well as small and mid-sized retailers and institutions. METRO Cash & Carry is a partner of many small and mid-sized independent businesses. Their success is our focus. We have made it our goal to empower millions of independent businesses with our industry-leading expertise in food quality and safety, supply chain and sustainability as well as customized solutions and digital innovations.
More about METRO: https://www.metroag.de/en
About METRO Wholesale Myanmar
METRO Wholesale Myanmar will help improving agriculture sector of Myanmar by buying directly from farmers for its B2B customers. In this way, farmers will benefit more from the optimized and efficient supply chain and its B2B customers can enjoy premium freshness of the products as well. As the ultimate purpose is to be the “Champion for Independent Business”, METRO Wholesale Myanmar passionately serves independent business people with differentiated and exclusive food assortment, services and solutions.
Our motto is - “Delivering Foods directly from farm to table.”
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