SEF SEAF-Macedonia Summary Of Project Information (SPI)       Project Name:    Macedonia: Macedonia Small Enterprise Assistance Fund (SEAF)      Region:Central and Southern Europe   Sector:   Project No:009378   Projected Board Date:April 26, 1999   Company Name:Macedonia SEAF   Technical Partner and/or Major Shareholders    	The shareholders of the Fund will be: SEAF (32%), IFC (20%), EBRD (32%), and DEG (16%).  The Small Enterprise Assistance Fund, formerly known as CARESBAC, is a not-for-profit organization which manages locally-operating, small business investment funds on a commercially sustainable basis.  SEAF is a shareholder and/or manager of eight for profit SME venture capital funds in Central and Eastern Europe, and has made over 120 equity investments in the region.  They have about US$35 million under their management.  All investments are made through local offices following a thorough appraisal process.  In addition to 10 full-time staff employed at SEAF Washington, SEAF country funds employ 90 staff primarily consisting of local professionals trained in business, law and/or finance, working under the direction of an experienced expatriate financial executive.    Project Cost Including proposed IFC investment    The project consists of developing a fund -- the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF), Macedonia Fund (the "Fund") - - a fund with a targeted size of around US$12.5 million and a proposed ten-year life.     Location of project and Description of site    	The company will have offices in Skopje, Macedonia.    Description of Company and Purpose of Project    	The proposed project is the first equity fund of any kind established for Macedonia and the Fund is serving a market which is not being served by others in Macedonia.  The demonstration effect of the project, particularly because of IFCs involvement, is expected to help attract other equity investors to Macedonia.  IFC is also playing an important role in helping SEAF become more commercial.  During the life of the Fund, IFC is expected to play a monitoring and quality control role over the business decisions of the Fund.      The proposed project has a substantial development impact.  Important impediments to the development of the Macedonian SME sector are lack of access to equity capital, limited availability of long-term lending, and business managers insufficient business expertise and technical training. SEAF-Macedonia aims to alleviate these constraints by providing equity capital supplemented by appropriate technical assistance. The Fund will assist in the development of the private sector in Macedonia by supporting viable SME equity investments.  Local commercial banks would be encouraged to lend to some of the investee companies since the Fund will provide the necessary capital base.    Environmental Category and Issues    	This is a Financial Intermediary (FI) Type 2 project according to IFC''s environmental review procedure.  The Fund will be required to undertake an environmental review of each subproject to ensure compliance with host country requirements, IFC environmental and social safeguard policies, and, if applicable, World Bank Group environmental, health and safety guidelines. IFC will assess the Funds capability to carry out environmental reviews.  The Fund must obtain IFC clearance prior to making any investment with IFC funds in any Category A project.    The  is  from the InfoShop.       Host country location of environmental documents    IFC/World Bank Office, Skopje, Macedonia   SEAF Office, Skopje, Macedonia      Date SPI sent to InfoShop:March 25, 1999   This Summary of Project Information is prepared and distributed to the public in advance of consideration of the proposed transaction by the Corporations Board of Directors.  It is provided for the purpose of enhancing the transparency of IFCs activities and should not be construed as presuming the outcome of IFC Board consideration.    For Additional Information contact: Corporate Relations Unit -   telephone: (202) 473-7711   facsimile: (202) 974-4384