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$16 Million Mekong Enterprise Fund LaunchedMANILA, PHILIPPINES (22 April 2002) - The newly launched Mekong Enterprise Fund (MEF) will be the first venture capital fund to make equity investments in small- and medium-sized private businesses in Viet Nam, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Cambodia. The $16 million Fund aims to invest in private companies founded and managed by private entrepreneurs, with a focus on export industries and local service providers. Investors in the Fund include the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Nordic Development Fund, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd. and other private investors. The initial feasibility study for the Fund was carried out by the Mekong Project Development Facility (MPDF), a multi-donor program aimed at assisting the development of, and improving the enabling environment, for SMEs in the Mekong Region. "We firmly believe that this initiative will foster ADB's strategic focus on sub-regional cooperation and economic integration as well as promote the role of the private sector in the Greater Mekong Subregion. The Fund is another example of ADB's commitment to help finance commercially viable private enterprises of the member countries in the region," said Mr. Bruce Purdue, Director of ADB's Private Operations Division. This is the second project this year in Viet Nam that ADB has financed through its private sector window. "We believe that there are many great entrepreneurs with excellent growth potential in this region, who can benefit enormously from the capital and advisory assistance provided by the Fund. We look forward to collaborating closely with the Fund in its future operations," said Dr. Mario Fischel, General Manager of MPDF. The Investment Manager of the Fund is Mekong Capital Ltd, a Cayman Islands Company comprised of individuals with experience in investments and banking in the Mekong Region. The Advisor to the Fund is MPDF. Through Mekong Capital and MPDF, the Fund aims to provide both technical and advisory support to the companies in which the Fund invests. "We've developed our strategy by carefully evaluating the reasons for the successes and failures of other investments in these countries. Key elements of our strategy involve focusing on sectors in which the Mekong region has a competitive advantage and on existing companies with impressive track records but for which we can add additional value as investors," said Mr. Chris Freund, Managing Director of Mekong Capital Ltd. The Fund aims to have a positive impact on the development of the private sector in the Mekong Region while obtaining a suitable risk-adjusted return on its investments. The Fund expects to meet these objectives by providing a significant level of post-investment support to the Fund's investee companies and by investing in companies which are well managed as well as represent role models for other private sector companies. The Fund also aims to work closely with some of its investors, who represent a significant resource for assistance to Mekong region countries. These investors can play a unique role in facilitating to help improve the environment in which private businesses operate in the Mekong Region. The Fund is domiciled in the Cayman Islands and has a life of 10 years. The average holding period for investments is expected to average five years. The average investment size is expected to be approximately US$500,000. Most of the Fund's investments will be in companies that are not listed at the time of the investment. The Fund is not listed on any stock exchange. ContactsCheolsu Kim |
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