EIB bolsters entrepreneurship in Turkey with EUR 100 million in tandem with ING

20-12-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — The European Investment Bank (EIB) entered today in a EUR 100 million agreement with the ING Bank Turkey A.S. in favour of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies (mid-caps) in Turkey.

This is the first time that the EIB joins forces with ING in Turkey, extending EIB’s co-operation with the ING Group outside the Union. EIB Vice-President Pim van Ballekomcommented on this occasion at EIB’s headquarters in Luxembourg: “Support for Turkey’s vibrant small and middle sized private sector remains a priority for the European Investment Bank. We are pleased to enlarge the network of our partner banks in Turkey, and extend our cooperation with ING. ING Turkey has entered into an ambitious plan for the development of its SME franchise across Turkey and its strong historical presence in Anatolia will have also a regional development impact, reaching some of the more remote and less economically developed rural areas. This operation increases the availability and lengthens the maturity of funding for the small and medium entrepreneurship in Turkey, underpinning job creation and growth”.

ING Bank CEO Pınar Abay said “SMEs have a great contribution to the Turkish economy; they constitute 99% of total enterprises, 80% of employment, 57% of value added at factor cost and 45% of gross investments in tangible goods in our country. Banks in Turkey are in a key position to support the economic potential of this segment. As ING Bank, we have determined our main strategy as acting in parallel with the economic growth of Turkey. In this respect, one of our targets is to support SMEs contributing to the macroeconomic indicators in Turkey, as their long-term business partner. I believe that the loan facility granted by EIB to ING Bank in Turkey would support our SME and Commercial clientele with their investments, providing employment, improving entrepreneurship and advancing regional development, thereby contributing to Turkish economy positively.”

Small and medium-sized, and mid-cap businesses play a key role in the Turkish economy. The EIB loan in tandem with ING will support investments in tangible or intangible assets, as well as working capital. Investment will be for new projects or the modernisation/expansion of existing businesses, mainly in the fields of manufacturing, services and tourism. SMEs and small mid-caps can benefit for projects below EUR 25 million, whereas large mid-caps for projects of up to EUR 50 million.

###

Helen Kavvadia
h.kavvadia@eib.org
+30 210 72 57 336
+30 69 32 00 04 00
Press Office
press@eib.org
+352 43 79 – 21000