Announcement of IFC Support of Turkish Glass Industry November 20, 1986

onlI Thursday, November 20, 1986 Monique Amaudry Press Release 87/25 (202) 676-9331 IFC SUPPORTS TURKISH GLASS INDUSTRY The International Finance Corporation is investing DM21 million (US$9.2 million equivalent) to help the Turkiye Sise ve Cam Fabrikalari Group modernize three glass-making companies and establish a new company to manufacture packaging materials in Turkey. The $27.1 million project has two objectives: first, it will finance essential furnace relinings, and improvements to bottle manufacturing and quality control systems, thereby increasing product quality and production efficiency. Second, it will establish a new facility to manufacture retail boxes to be used primarily by the Group's glassware producers to promote domestic sales and further penetrate export markets. This latter component will also help introduce state-of-the-art technology to Turkey's growing packaging sector. IFC is an affiliate of the World Bank and the leading multilateral institution providing long-term loans and equity financing to private enterprises in developing countries. IFC's loan will cover 71 percent of the foreign exchange element of the $27.1 million investment program, which includes $9.6 million for the modernization project and $17.5 million for the packaging plant. It will finance 82 percent of the cost of imported machinery and equipment. Further long-term domestic investment loans for the local currency equivalent of $3.9 million are being arranged by the Group through Turkiye Is Bankasi, Turkey's largest commercial bank. - MORE - - 2 - The new packaging company, Camis Ambalaj Sanayii A.S., will have an effective production capacity of 23 million sq. m. and will be the first plant in Turkey to produce E-flute paperboard packaging used in quality retail boxes. Located 45 kilometers from Istanbul, the new plant is scheduled to start commercial operations in July 1987, and will employ 155 people. IFC has previously assisted the Group, which comprises 26 companies, promote four successful glass-making projects, providing a total of $69 million in financing, including equity investments and participations. As of September 30, 1986 the Corporation held investments in 17 Turkish projects, amounting to about $93.5 million equivalent, including undisbursed amounts. They comprise projects in sheet glass, iron and steel, fiberglass, tourism, motor vehicles and accessories, glass tableware, textiles and fibers, nonferrous metal, food and food processing, pulp and paper products, and development finance. - END -