The FINANCIAL — The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have agreed to step up their cooperation in order to support sustainable economic development in regions of common interest.
The EBRD invests in emerging economies, with a special focus on the promotion of the private sector. JBIC, wholly owned by the Japanese government, has a mandate to contribute to the sound development of the Japanese economy and the global economy and to support the overseas activitities of Japanese companies.
EBRD founding shareholder Japan and its corporations are significant sources of financing for countries where the EBRD works. In order to attract more investment to its regions from Japanese firms, the EBRD opened a Representative Office in Tokyo in 2016.
A Memorandum of Understanding that outlines the enhanced cooperation between the EBRD and JBIC was signed by EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti and JBIC CEO and Executive Managing Director Tadashi Maeda in Washington, D.C., on the sidelines of this year’s World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings, according to EBRD.
Under the agreement, the two organisations will support transition and economic and social development in their common regions of operations, develop co-financing opportunities using the resources of both institutions, share their individual areas of expertise and enhance the effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of their development work.
The cooperation will also reflect JBIC’s environmental priorities and the EBRD’s focus on resource efficiency and renewable energy through its Green Economy Transition approach, which was unveiled approved in 2015 with the aim of significantly scaling up the EBRD’s climate finance investments.
At the same time, the two institutions will cooperate on business development activities with Japanese corporates to promote Japanese investment in EBRD countries of operations and to step up collaboration in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
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