EUROPEAN SMES EXPORT FUNDING PLATFORM

Credit line for Northstar Europe SA, an export buyers' platform located in Luxembourg, supporting European SMEs and small Mid-caps exporting high-tech production equipment mainly outside the EU.

The final beneficiaries for this operation are European SME and mid-cap exporters as well as importers in overseas markets. The advantage of buyer export credits to exporter SMEs is that they can promote exports by enabling funding to their end-clients. There is no recourse to the exporter SMEs on the underlying export buyers' loans. This is generally considered a key success factor to sell abroad sophisticated and relatively expensive equipment. For importers, buyers' credit allows existing credit lines with their local commercial banks to be preserved and used for standard financing requirements such as working capital. The proposed operation fulfils an identified market gap (as documented by the EU Council Working Group on Export Credits) as neither commercial banks nor public promotional banks in most EU member countries are currently capable of providing small credit buyer credits below EUR 5m.

Potential environmental & social risks identified at appraisal will be mitigated by adapting the contract and/or side-letter with allocation conditions pertinent for this promoter and regions of the final beneficiaries in line with requirements in the relevant EU Directives.

The Bank will require the promoter to ensure that implementation of the project will be done in accordance with the Bank's Guide to Procurement. However, the operation will be limited to private sector entities only. Consequently, there are no public-procurement-related concerns.