IFC to invest $19m in bulk terminal at Port Qasim

World Bank arm to invest $500m annually.

KARACHI: While most international financial institutions are seemingly reluctant to lend to the government of Pakistan, the country happens to be a ‘priority’ for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) because of a thriving private sector that has a reputation for honouring its financial commitments.

This is one of the reasons why the IFC – a member of the World Bank Group – has signed an investment agreement with the Pakistan International Bulk Terminal Limited (PIBT) for the construction of the country’s first mechanised, multi-purpose, dry bulk cargo terminal at Port Qasim.

IFC Vice President for Europe, Middle East and North Africa Dimitris Tsitsiragos, Marine Group of Companies Chairman Captain Haleem A Siddiqui and Managing Director Aasim A Siddiqui signed on Thursday the investment agreement of $19 million. Other than being an equity shareholder in the project, the IFC is also going to help the PIBT secure loans of $26.5 million from the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) and several banks. Total cost of the project is estimated to be $185 million.

Talking to journalists, Tsitsiragos said it was the largest equity investment that IFC had made in any port project in the world. He added that the IFC had extended its services to the Pakistan International Container Terminal Limited (PICT) – a sister concern of the Marine Group of Companies established in early 2000s – four times in the past.

The IFC is going to invest $500 million in the country annually for the next many years, Tsitsiragos said, adding that half of it would go into trade financing projects while the rest would be used in renewable energy, infrastructure development, manufacturing and agriculture sector projects.

Addressing the audience, the Marine Group of Companies chairman said the fact that the IFC was investing in a major port development project in Pakistan reflected its confidence in the potential of the country’s economy.

Referring to the state-of-the-art cement export facilities at the upcoming PIBT, he said the completion of the terminal would lead to an increase in production of the cement industry, which was currently operating at 35%-40% of its installed capacity.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2012.