Historically, OPIC has provided more than $11 billion in finance and insurance to support 997 projects in

tourism, manufacturing, energy and construction. OPIC’s current investment portfolio provides more than

$2 billion to 59 projects ranging from housing and construction to financial services.

OPIC Supports U.S. Investment and 

Development Needs in Asia

OPIC is a U.S. government agency that helps U.S. businesses invest overseas, fosters economic development in new and emerging

markets, complements the private sector in managing risks associated with foreign direct investment, and supports U.S. foreign policy.

Because OPIC charges market-based fees for its products, it operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to taxpayers. Since 1971,

OPIC has supported more than $164 billion worth of investments that have generated over $69 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than

264,000 American jobs. For more information please go to www.opic.gov.

April 2005

OPIC Highlights

Office of External Affairs

1100 New York Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20527

202-336-8400

www.opic.gov

OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION

OPIC Provides Support for Tsunami Reconstruction Efforts

In response to the massive destruction caused by the December 26 tsunami,

OPIC is establishing a special line of credit up to $150 million to mobilize

U.S. private sector investment in the reconstruction of nations devastated by

the tsunami. The credit line will be part of an OPIC Tsunami Reconstruction

Finance Initiative that aims to help speed the rehabilitation of housing and

infrastructure in affected countries, with special emphasis on Indonesia, Sri

Lanka and Thailand.

Through the Tsunami Reconstruction Finance Initiative, OPIC will:

Work with U.S. businesses to support long-term reconstruction with loans and guarantees for physical infrastructure projects, including power supply, clean water supply and distribution, and transportation projects; 

·Support a combined housing construction and long-term finance program to deliver

quality housing units for rent or sale on a lease/purchase basis; and 

·Work with nongovernmental organizations to launch micro-financing facilities to

promote the growth of local industries. 

Additionally, OPIC will establish an internal task force to manage the

Tsunami Reconstruction Finance Initiative, as well as implement expedited

approval processes to speed reconstruction projects.

OPIC Helps Expand Lending in Asia

OPIC has established a lending facility that

will enable Citibank to expand its lending in

eight Asian countries. In the facility, Citibank

will share credit risk with OPIC in project

loans to companies in Bangladesh, India,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka,

Thailand, and Vietnam, with an emphasis on

lending to smaller companies. OPIC will

review and provide its clearance with respect

to worker rights issues, environmental effects,

and U.S. effects for each downstream project

loan.

OPIC Supports Investment in

Mongolia

Recently named one of 16 countries

eligible for Millennium Challenge

Corporation (MCC) assistance,

Mongolia is also the destination of a

$50 million OPIC support facility

meant to encourage U.S. private sector investment in the country. 

The facility will be available to projects that mobilize U.S. private capital

and promise significant benefits to

the economic and social development

of Mongolia. 

OPIC financing will also be used by

a U.S. small business for the construction and operation of a resort

focused on adventure tourism activities that take advantage of

Mongolia’s unique terrain such as

trekking, rock climbing, horseback

riding, rafting and all terrain vehicle

riding. The resort facilities are being

designed to be self-sustainable and

environmentally friendly.

Additionally, OPIC has approved a

$15 million co-lending facility with

the Mongolia Trade and

Development Bank to assist in

extending the bank’s individual lending limits. The facility supports privatization of the bank by Gerald

Metals, Inc., a privately held U.S.

corporation located in Stanford,

Connecticut.

The lending facility is expected to

provide much needed capital to

small entrepreneurs in the region.
OPIC Highlights is published by Overseas Private Investment Corporation 1100 New York Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20527

OPIC Supports Indonesian Energy Projects

Two offshore oil and natural gas projects in Indonesia will receive up to

$350 million in OPIC financing. The projects, sponsored by Californiabased Unocal Corporation and Pertamina, the Indonesian state oil and gas

company, will develop the West Seno offshore crude oil and natural gas

fields in the Makassar Straits off East Kalimantan. 

OPIC's financing nearly single-handedly fulfills a 2001 joint initiative of

OPIC, the U. S. Export-Import Bank and the U.S. Trade and Development

Agency to provide $400 million in loans and guarantees to finance U.S.

investments in Indonesia, specifically in the oil and gas sector.

The projects are expected to yield 145 million barrels of oil, which will be

sold in Indonesia and in the general Asian petroleum market. 

West Seno I, the first project, features construction of a deep-water production platform, a floating processing unit, and two 60-kilometer oil and gas

pipelines from the platform to an existing terminal at Santan; and the

drilling of more than 20 production wells. OPIC is providing a $300 million

loan to this project.

West Seno II, which will receive a $50 million loan from OPIC, involves

construction of a second deep-water drilling platform and the drilling of an

additional 20+ production wells. The second project will share processing

and transportation infrastructure with the first.

OPIC Loan Helps

Philippines Meet Need for

Safe Drinking Water

A $348,000 OPIC loan to a small

business will help the Philippines

meet a growing demand for bottled

water. Golden Cypress Water

Company, a bottled water manufacturer and distributor which is

owned in part by two U.S. citizens,

will use the loan to finance the

start-up of an operation which will

sell purified water to both residential and commercial customers in

the country.

The company will pump water

from an on-site aquifer; purify it

through a reverse osmosis membrane system; then bottle, market,

sell, and distribute it.

Two Investment Funds Support Economic Growth in Asia

OPIC has committed up to $90 million in investment guaranties for the

establishment of two private equity investment funds intended to support the

growth of businesses in Asia. The combined target capitalization of the two

funds is between $250 million and $300 million.

The first fund will invest in the credits of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia. Through the purchase and restructuring of these credits,

and for recapitalization of these businesses, the fund will enable companies

to fix their balance sheets and allow banks to redeploy capital in the form of

new loans. The fund's activities will substantially enhance each target country's financial infrastructure. The fund will focus its investments in South

Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, with a target capitalization of $100 million.

OPIC selected as fund manager Clearwater Capital Partners, LLC, a privately-owned firm founded in 2001, with offices in New York, Hong Kong,

Seoul and Singapore.

The second fund will pursue expansion, management buy-outs/buy-ins, and

private investments in public equities, privatizations, consolidations and

infrastructure investments. The fund will in particular seek investments in

high-growth sectors such as pharmaceutical products, health care, manufacturing, consumer goods, retail, oil and gas, and financial services.

The capitalization target of the fund is $150 million, and will target investments in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

OPIC selected Actis Capital LLP, a fund management company focused on

managing capital primarily in Africa and South Asia, to manage the fund.

OPIC Loan to Establish

Franchise in South Korea

A U.S. small business will use an

OPIC loan to establish the first

Ruby Tuesday franchise restaurant

in South Korea. The $1.5 million

loan to Majestic Group Korea,

Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of

Majestic Group, Inc. of Maryland,

will be used to establish a Ruby

Tuesday franchise restaurant in

Seoul, South Korea. The project

will also give Majestic Group

exclusive rights to operate the

Ruby Tuesday franchise throughout South Korea, foreseeing the

development of additional stores in

the country.

Among the project's advantages

will be to provide significant,

much-needed employment opportunities for South Korean women -

a significant achievement in a

country where it is typically difficult for women to gain employment. Additionally, the project is

expected to help accelerate South

Korea's economic development, in

part by introducing the high-standard business practices of a successful U.S. franchise.