IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Banca Comercială Română (BCR) are joining forces to expand the availability of trade finance for importers and exporters in Romania to help promote economic growth and create jobs.

IFC has extended a $50 million credit trade line to BCR under the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), which supports trade in emerging markets by providing partial or full guarantees for individual trade transactions backed by IFC’s triple-A rating.

BCR, a member of the Erste group, has joined the Program as an issuing bank. Participation in the program will enable BCR, the leading trade finance intermediary in Romania, to expand its reach to banks across the globe, facilitate the entrance of Romanian companies into new markets and increase trade ties across the European Union and beyond.

“We focus on supporting exporters and supply chain driven manufacturing as we have seen excellent export driven economic growth and superb companies that mitigate their market risk, while maintaining turnover. We are committed to helping the entire economy advance the economic value chain, especially by leveraging financial intermediation to boost trade and entrepreneurship”, said Sergiu Manea, Vicepresident for Corporate & Markets at BCR.

“Through our trade finance program, IFC is channeling much-needed financing to economies that need to expand global trade opportunities for local firms,” said Marcos Brujis, IFC Global Industry Director, Financial Institutions Group. “Access to trade finance is especially essential for small and medium enterprises that depend on cross-border trade to remain viable and seek new opportunities for growth in foreign markets.”

Since its inception in 2005, IFC’s award-winning Global Trade Finance Program has issued more than 21,000 guarantees totaling $36 billion to banks on trade-related payment obligations of its financial institution clients in emerging markets. The program includes more than 280 partner banks in over 95 emerging-market countries. 

About IFC

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

About BCR

Banca Comercială Română (BCR), a member of Erste Group, is the leading bank in Romania, providing universal banking operations (retail, corporate & investment banking, treasury and capital markets), and covering specialty companies working on the leasing market, private pensions and housing banks. BCR is Romania’s No. 1 bank in terms of asset value (over €15 bn.), in terms of client base and in terms of savings and crediting. BCR uses a network of 22 corporate business centers and 23 mobile offices dedicated to corporate clients, and 551 retails units located in most communities inhabited by at least 10,000 citizens to provide a full range of financial products and services.

BCR – External Communication 

Cezar Marin, e-mail: cezar.marin@bcr.ro

For more details about the products and services provided by BCR, please use one of the coordinates below to contact us:

InfoBCR 

Web: www.bcr.ro

Email: contact.center@bcr.ro

Telverde: 0800.801.BCR (0800.801.227), toll-free from all national networks.

Twitter: @infoBCR