Manila, Philippines (BBN)– The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday signed trade finance agreements with Bank of Georgia and TBC Bank that are expected to bolster the trade sector and Georgia’s role as a strategic hub between Europe and Asia.
The agreements, the first such agreements that ADB has signed in the central Asian country, are part of ADB’s Trade Finance Program, which provides guarantees and loans through banks to support international trade in ADB’s developing member countries.
Georgia sits at the crossroads between the vast markets of Europe and Asia and is well-placed to benefit from growing trade between the two regions as the global economy rebalances. However, it can only do that if there is an increase in scarce trade finance from Georgian and other banks to allow local companies to import goods they need and export other products.
In Georgia, small- and medium-sized enterprises employ less than 40 percent of the country’s total workforce — less than in many other developing countries — partly due to their inability to access financing. That has hindered their expansion.
BBN/SSR/AD-12Apr11-3:55 pm (BST)
