Washington DC, July 7, 2004.—The International
Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, will
provide $5 million to the Institute of Business in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
and Tobago. IFC’s financing will support the construction of a new $10
million campus.
The Institute of Business is a private business school affiliated with
the University of the West Indies, an autonomous regional institution backed
by and serving 15 Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean, with campuses
located in Barbados and Jamaica as well as Trinidad.
The Institute’s new campus will provide modern, well-equipped facilities
for its core activities in graduate business education, as well as for
short-term training, research, and consulting activities.
“The new facilities will expand local education opportunities, helping
meet the growing needs of the country’s business community for highly
skilled and responsive professionals in business and management,” said
Atul Mehta, IFC’s director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Guy Ellena, IFC’s director for Health and Education, added, “This operation
gives IFC a valuable opportunity to assist a commercially independent venture
that operates in conjunction with a parent public higher education institution.
It demonstrates the benefits of a public-private sector partnership.”
Dr. Rolph Balgobin, Executive Director of the Institute of Business, noted
that “the relationship with IFC brings significant opportunity to the
Institute of Business through its experience in supporting other, similar
initiatives in the developing world.” Dr. Balgobin added: “The
Institute of Business stands to benefit significantly from the advice
of the IFC, built through experience in helping business schools elsewhere
to expand their operations.”
The Institute of Business was created in 1989 through a collaboration between
the private sector and the University of the West Indies. The Institute
offers the Executive Masters of Business Administration and the International
Masters of Business Administration, among other graduate programs.
IFC investments in education are an important component of the Corporation's
overall strategy. This project is also part of IFC’s strategy for
Trinidad and Tobago, to broaden the country’s access to educational services.
IFC's current education sector portfolio totals $47 million. In Latin American
and the Caribbean, it includes investments in private universities, elementary
and secondary schools, and E-learning companies.
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, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability
and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses.
From its founding in 1956 through FY03, IFC has committed more than $37
billion of its own funds and arranged $22 billion in syndications for 2,990
companies in 140 developing countries. IFC's worldwide committed portfolio
as of FY03 was $16.7 billion for its own account and $6.6 billion held
for participants in loan syndications.
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