IFC provides $15m in investment for Buana

IFC provides $15m in investment for Buana

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private arm
of the World Bank, has approved US$15 million worth of investment
in PT Bank Buana to help it strengthen its lending activities to
small and medium-sized enterprises.

"This investment will benefit small and medium businesses,
which account for some 40 percent of Indonesia's gross domestic
product (GDP) and employ about 50 percent of the country's
workforce," Karl Voltaire, Director of IFC's Global Financial
Market Department, said in a statement.

Bank Buana has long been regarded as one of the country's most
efficient commercial banks, with particular strength in serving
smaller business.

During the financial crisis in the late 1990s, Bank Buana was
one of only a handful of banks that managed to survive without a
government bail-out scheme.

Buana's president Jimmy Laihad said that to further develop
its business, the bank planned also to utilize IFC's know-how in
adopting international best practices in credit evaluation, risk
management, information technology and organization.

Only by implementing and improving the good corporate
governance principles, Indonesia can revive confidence from
international investors to invest in the country, Jimmy added.

Karl echoed Jimmy's remarks, saying: "We hope the investment
will help reinvigorate interest in Indonesia by foreign
investors, who have scaled back their operations or pulled out
since the financial crisis."

As of last year, Buana's total assets stood at Rp 13.4
trillion (about $1.5 billion) with a net income of Rp 251
billion.