EDC and IFC deepen partnership to expand trade, infrastructure and cleantech sectors in emerging markets

TORONTO, Feb. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Export Development Canada (EDC) and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today signed agreements to expand their partnership to support Canadian companies' investments in emerging markets.

The agreements will focus on leveraging each other's strengths and capabilities in emerging market projects and transactions, in addition to enhanced partnering in the infrastructure and clean technology, or cleantech, sectors.

Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, said: "IFC and EDC have a distinguished history of working together to support private sector development in emerging markets. Today, we are signing agreements that will make it easier and more effective for us to collaborate to help the private sector in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa address critical development challenges such as climate change, access to water, and healthcare."

"Having a stable and experienced partner to help develop emerging market opportunities while many others are pulling back from these notionally riskier regions presents a great fit with the diversifying interests of Canadian exporters and investors," said Stephen Poloz, President and CEO, EDC.

"The agreement is really about taking the natural complementarity between EDC and IFC to the operational level.  In today's credit constrained environment, our ability to maximize our capacity through partnership enriches the opportunities of our customers, and helps grow trade and investment with the world's emerging market economies."

The agreements include a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Master Cooperation Agreement (MCA). The MOU outlines the areas of partnership and the MCA streamlines the lending process to improve efficiency and turnaround time.

About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help 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, we helped our 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. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About EDC
EDC is Canada's export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC's knowledge and partnerships are used by more than 8,200 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining and a recognized leader in financial reporting and economic analysis.

Media contacts:

Phil Taylor
Export Development Canada
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Blackberry:  [email protected]

Alexandra Klopfer
IFC
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E-mail: [email protected]