BISHKEK, November 15 (Itar-Tass) —— Kyrgyzstan to open an office of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), the republican government’s press service said on Tuesday.
The related decision was achieved during a meeting between Kyrgyzstani First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov and Chairman of the EBD Executive Board Igor Finogenov, the press service said.
“The setting up of the EDB office in the republic will make it possible to raise Kyrgyzstan’s investment cooperation with EDB member countries to a new level,” Babanov said.
In his words, the economic situation in the member countries of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) requires development of comprehensive relations between the members of this organisation.
“Recently, the members of the Eurasian Development Bank have made significant progress in the development of business partnership,” Babanov said, pointing to the considerable growth of trade turnover between these countries.
“With this in mind, it is necessary to strengthen and expand mutually beneficial bilateral trade and economic relations between the countries for further diversification of the export-import operations through the stepping up of industrial capacities,” the Kyrgyzstani first deputy prime minister said.
During the talks, Babanov and Finogenov discussed possibilities for the EBD investments in the national projects of the republic, which are included in Kyrgyzstan’s medium-term development program in the period from 2012 to 2014, the government’s press service said.
The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial organisation that was instituted by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006.
The bank is headquartered in Almaty and has its branch in St. Petersburg.
The bank was established in order to promote the development of market economy in the member countries, their sustainable economic growth and enhancement of trade and economic contacts between them.
The bank should become one of the key financial instruments in Eurasia and an effective mechanism for the development of cooperation between its member countries in order to enhance integration processes and level up the social and economic development in the EurAsEC member states.
The Eurasian Development Bank’s chartered capital exceeds 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
The bank is interested in the increase of its members as a way to expand EDB investment projects, which meets the EDB’s strategic tasks.
The EDB investment portfolio (which is one of the major indicators of the bank’s activity) almost neared 2,208.8 million U.S. dollars by the end of 2010.
As of January 1, 2011, the EBD total assets were estimated at 2,552.6 million U.S. dollars, while the total amount of loans granted to the bank’s clients exceeded 820.9 million U.S. dollars.
In June 2009, member states of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) appointed EDB manager of the ACF and signed a respective agreement with the Bank. The EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund worth over 8.5 billion U.S. dollars was established by governments of six countries – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. ACF’s main goals are to assist member countries in overcoming the consequences of global financial crises, to ensure their long-run economic and financial stability and to foster economic integration in the region.