YEREVAN, February 13. / ARKA /. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping Armenia’s ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK expand financial services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), contributing to job creation and strengthening the private sector in Armenia.

IFC said in a press release it will help ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK to develop financial products and services tailored to the needs of small and medium enterprises in Armenia. IFC will also support the bank in developing risk assessment tools necessary to grow the lender’s SME banking business.

"Through this new cooperation with IFC, our long-term partner, we hope to achieve significant progress in introducing viable financial services to better serve the financing needs of small and medium enterprises,” said Stepan Gishyan, CEO of ACBA-CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK. “By building more sustainable platforms to serve small businesses, we hope to contribute to the growth of the private sector in Armenia."

Thomas Lubeck, IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, said, “Lack of access to finance is a key constraint to job creation globally, particularly for micro, small, and medium enterprises. IFC is a knowledge leader in SME banking and our partnership will further strengthen the bank’s ability to serve small enterprises in Armenia, helping them grow into larger firms and create more jobs.”

This initiative is part of the IFC Bank Advisory Program in Europe and Central Asia, which is designed to support financial institutions in the region during their recovery from the global economic crisis. The program promotes best practices in risk management in the financial sector and supports the development of SME banking capacity. IFC is implementing the program in partnership with the Development Bank of Austria, the government of Luxemburg, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

Armenia became a member and a shareholder of IFC in 1995. Since then, IFC has invested $244 million in 40 projects across a range of sectors, including financial markets, manufacturing, and mining. IFC advisory services provides advice through projects focusing on the financial sector, sustainable energy, regulatory simplification, and food safety.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, its investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. -0-