The FINANCIAL — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting further expansion of international trade with a US$ 50 million trade facility to Turkish lender Alternatifbank (ABank) under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP). ABank is the fourth issuing bank in Turkey to join the TFP.
Through this new facility the EBRD will issue guarantees in favour of international commercial banks, covering the political and commercial payment risk of the transactions undertaken by ABank. In addition, ABank will benefit from the EBRD’s award-winning technical cooperation projects in trade finance.
Jean-Patrick Marquet, Director for EBRD operations in Turkey, said: “ABank is our newest partner bank in Turkey. Through our Trade Facilitation Programme we aim to help it better meet clients’ trade finance needs and further expand activities that will benefit the wider economy.”
Müge Öner, Acting CEO of ABank, added: “Multilateral financial institutions have always played a prominent role in ABank’s history and it is a great pleasure for us to partner with the EBRD in this important programme. Within the framework of our focused approach to banking, this partnership with the EBRD reconfirms ABank’s objectives for growth in trade finance as one of our priority business activities. In this regard, our aim has always been to support the Turkish real sector and contribute to economic development in Turkey.”
Founded in 1991, ABank is majority owned by one of the biggest banks in Qatar, the Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.). As of Q3 2016 ABank’s total assets were valued at TRY 14.1 billion. The company provides banking services through 53 branches around Turkey. It provides customised solutions, with products in retail, corporate and commercial banking, through a focused banking strategy.
The EBRD started investing in Turkey in 2009 and currently operates from offices in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep. To date the EBRD has invested over €8 billion in the country through more than 200 projects in infrastructure, energy, agribusiness, industry and finance. It has also mobilised nearly €20 billion for these ventures from other sources of financing. Some 98 per cent of the Bank’s investments in Turkey are in the private sector, according to EBRD.
The EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Programme, launched in 1999, aims to promote foreign trade to, from and among the countries where the EBRD invests. Through the Programme, the EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks and short-term loans to selected banks and factoring companies for on-lending to local exporters, importers and distributors. The TFP currently includes over 100 partner banks in 27 countries where the EBRD invests, with limits exceeding €1.5 billion in total, and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide.
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