President of the European Bank of Redevelopment Visits Taipei

European Bank of Redevelopment (EBRD) President, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, visited Taipei on the 18 and 19 March, where he met the Taiwan President, Ma Ying-Jeou, Minister of Foreign Affairs, David L.Y. Lin, President and CEO of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Peter W. J. Huang, and Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the Republic of China (Eximbank), Robert Rueen-Fong Chu.

On the agenda was to discuss improving and increasing the EBRD-Taiwanese cooperation, and President Chakrabarti signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eximbank. The document is designed to improve collaboration between the 2 banks, and therefore develop opportunities to co-finance projects in the countries and regions in which the EBRD operates.
 
Taiwanese businesses are a significant source of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the EBRD, which was set up to assist Eastern European countries to develop robust market economies. As of January 2015, the value of the joint Taiwanese investment in the EBRD stood at €260 million, which funded the development of over 270 projects in a range sectors, which ranged from sustainable resource management, to EBRD small business support, and many more.

The EBRD was established to encourage Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), as well as the countries of the former Soviet Union, to develop well-functioning market economies; the EBRD now invests in more than  30 countries. Utilizing the private sector, it invests in projects, gets involved in policy dialogue, and offers technical guidance to foster technology development; in addition to building sustainable open-market economies.

Talking before the visit, President Chakrabarti said: “We are inspired by local companies’ desire to work with the EBRD so we are pleased to see further cooperation.”

Taiwanese companies are a crucial source of foreign direct investment in countries where the EBRD works. The value of joint Taiwanese-EBRD investments stood at €1.33 billion as of January 2015.
EBRD finance accounted for €1.1 billion, and Taiwanese investment was €260 million.

Additionally, funding has provided vital assistance to the EBRD since its establishment in 1991. Grant-based assistance through the Taiwan Business-EBRD Cooperation Fund, and a variety of multi-donor accounts have had good results in all the countries in which the EBRD works and currently stands at US $39 million.

This financing has helped facilitate in excess of 270 projects in market sectors like sustainable resource management, intelligent transportation systems, as well as information and communications technology (ICT), as well as the corporate sector; there has also been substantial funding from the EBRD Small Business Support (SBS) and Women in Business programs.

In 2014 the Taiwanese authorities replenished the Taiwan Business-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund with US $ 1.75 million, along with the Early Transition Countries Fund (to which it was a founding contributor), with US $ 250,000.

Also in 2014, they contributed US $ 671,500 to the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Multi-Donor Account for technical cooperation activities in the region.

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