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First Foreign Fund for Western Small Firms Set up
The fund for small and medium-sized enterprises in Sichuan, launched by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), started operation in this capital city of southwest China's Sichuan Province Saturday.
This is the first foreign fund to assist the development of small industrial firms in the western part of China.
The Sichuan SME Investment Fund (SSIF) owns 30 million US dollars of capital, jointly raised by the IFC, the New York Life International, DEG and the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries. It serves the growth of small private enterprises in western China.
Assaad Jabre, vice-president of the IFC, said that the small and medium private firms have a great potential in providing jobs for laid-off workers. However, their potentiality has not been given full play due to poor fund-raising environment and lack of a commercial scheme and management expertise. The aim of the fund is to show that funding small and medium enterprises will be part of good business for banks and financial institutions.
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