Washington D.C, December 5, 2002—In
an innovative project aimed at boosting small and medium enterprise (SME)
development in central Kazakhstan, the International Finance Corporation
(IFC) has joined with Ispat Karmet, a leading local company belonging to
the LNM Group, to launch a US$6.9 million SME linkage resource.
The Ispat Karmet Small and Medium Enterprise Resource will help SMEs in
Karaganda Oblast of central Kazakhstan to establish and consolidate sustainable
linkages with Ispat Karmet, one of the largest integrated steel mills in
the Commonwealth of Independent States. There will also be a technical
assistance program to support local SMEs as they seek to expand and modernize
their businesses.
The SME resource will contribute to much-needed job creation in the region
by expanding the access of smaller suppliers into the chain of Ispat’s
vendors and by helping the existing small suppliers develop. Driven by
the mutual interests of the SMEs and Ispat, this facility will help increase
the volume of supplies from local SMEs on a commercial, sustainable basis,
with the long-term goal of assisting them to diversify their market beyond
Ispat Karmet.
Khosrow Zamani, IFC’s Director of Southern Europe and Central Asia Department,
said: “The establishment of this linkage resource is a win-win proposition.
Local SMEs will benefit from the technical assistance and funding that
will help their businesses grow and Ispat Karmet will benefit from a new
generation of efficient vendor relationships.”
Mr. Zamani added: “Small and medium enterprise growth is a critical tool
for economic development and sustainable job creation in Kazakhstan and
throughout Central Asia. A key objective of this facility is to help develop
profitable, sustainable SMEs, which reflects a major goal of IFC’s regional
strategy. IFC will continue to support initiatives and make investments
that support the growth of SMEs throughout Central Asia.”
Ispat Karmet has significantly contributed to the private sector business
environment in Karaganda, an industrial region that became impoverished
following the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Since 1995, its successful
operations have had a positive impact, directly and indirectly, on the
well-being of about a million people in the Karaganda Oblast.
Mr. Nawal Kishore Choudhary, General Director and CEO of Ispat Karmet,
said: “Apart from expanding the local vendor chain to Ispat Karmet, the
SME Resource is a major initiative of a responsible corporate citizen toward
national industrial development through medium and small entrepreneurs
and will also supplement the import-substitution drive undertaken by the
government of Kazakhstan.”
IFC’s mission (www.ifc.org)
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.
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