DUSHANBE, November 13, 2011, Asia-Plus – International Finance Corporation (IFC) is helping Tojik Sodirot Bonk (TSB), a large Tajik bank, enhance its ability to finance agricultural equipment sales in southern Tajikistan, improving farmers’ access to finance, and enabling them to increase productivity and profits, IFC Dushanbe Office reports.
The IFC Tajikistan Agribusiness Finance and Business Environment Project signed an advisory agreement with the bank o November 11 to help it expand its agricultural equipment finance portfolio in Khatlon province. IFC will survey farms in the region, develop a database of potential clients, and will also identify potential providers of agricultural equipment to match suppliers with potential customers.
“The advisory services from IFC will enable us to rapidly grow our agricultural equipment portfolio,” said Ms. Nataliya Nazarshoyeva, Chairperson of the Board of Tojik Sodirot Bonk. “Farmers in Tajikistan need new and efficient machinery, and we anticipate financing these needs. The farmers will be the ultimate beneficiaries of this project.”
The European Union funds IFC’s Tajikistan Agribusiness Finance and Business Environment Project. The project aims to improve the regulatory and policy environment for agriculture, as well as promote access to finance through a focus on agri-leasing and equipment finance.
“Farmers in Tajikistan lack access to finance for new agricultural equipment,” said Raiomand Billimoria, IFC Project Manager. “IFC is helping the bank to increase financing for new agricultural equipment in southern Tajikistan, which will enable local farmers to increase productivity and profits.”
IFC has expanded its investment program in Tajikistan significantly in the last three years with commitments of $27 million in 10 projects in the financial markets, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors.
IFC’s advisory program in Tajikistan is its largest in Central Asia. Various programs focus on developing financial markets through credit information systems, microfinance, agricultural finance, and leasing. IFC’s corporate governance program promotes transparency and good governance in larger corporations.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilizing capital in the international financial markets. In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, the institution helped its clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities—all while driving our investments to an all-time high of nearly $19 billion.
The European Union is made up of 27 Member States who have decided to gradually link together their know-how, resources and destinies. Together, during a period of enlargement of 50 years, they have built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms. The European Union is committed to sharing its achievements and its values with countries and peoples beyond its borders. To this end the EU is active in Tajikistan since 1992 and provides approximately EUR 25 million annually in development assistance.
