Lippo to set up bank in RP

Lippo to set up bank in RP

MANILA (AFP): Lippo Group has signed an agreement with the Philippine Exporters' Confederation (Philexport) to jointly establish a Philippine Export-Import Bank, a Filipino official said yesterday.

Philexport president Sergio Ortiz-Luis said the agreement was signed by the exporters confederation and Medco Holdings Inc., which represented the Lippo Group.

Ortiz-Luis said the Export-Import Bank aimed to improve the competitiveness of local exporters by providing expanded credit facilities, serving as a conduit for official development assistance and protecting exporters from foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

The Eximbank would have a capitalization of 1.2 billion pesos (US$46 million), Ortiz-Luis said.

Philexport would own 70 percent of the joint venture, while the Lippo Group would control 30 percent, he said, adding that the local Export Import was expected to start operations sometime in 1996.