TaiwanICDF Chairman David Y.L. Lin, TaiwanICDF Secretary General Tao Wen-lung and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) President Suma Chakrabarti signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the afternoon of March 1 through which to explore cooperative opportunities as part of the EBRD’s Sustainable Resource Initiative (SRI). The two organizations hope to promote cooperative lending projects to assist developing nations in Central and Eastern European and Central Asia to obtain the funding needed to promote environmentally sustainable development projects. Recipient countries will be expected to gradually repay the principal and interest over a designated future period, thereby allowing the TaiwanICDF to invest in further development projects through the recovery of funding.

Given the impact of climate change, in addition to concerns regarding environmental sustainability, adapting to and mitigating the impact of climate change have also become major issues requiring the urgent attention of the international community. In order to more actively integrate the range of development instruments invested in environmental protection and related projects, the EBRD plans to promote the SRI, which will not only cover green energy, but will also be expanded to encompass adaptation and mitigation, the protection of natural resources and environmentally friendly development, including, for example, the allocation and effective use of water resources. Such measures will enhance the efficiency of resource use by and between the EBRD’s recipient countries.

With the SRI due to be promoted at the EBRD’s forthcoming Annual Meeting in May, the signing of the MOU by President Chakrabarti during his visit to Taipei means that the TaiwanICDF becomes the first development agency to sign up to the initiative. Accordingly, the agreement will see the promotion of various lending projects allowing developing nations in Central and Eastern European and Central Asia to obtain funding via lending-based assistance from the EBRD and the TaiwanICDF, thus promoting development projects which allow resources to be utilized more efficiently or reduce environmental impacts. Recipient countries will be expected to return the principal and interest to the EBRD and the TaiwanICDF through a series of future repayments.

The TaiwanICDF’s sees lending and investment as an important tool for development assistance. By providing sovereign loans through this type of venture, the organization is able to assist economically fragile states, providing the support which allows weaker, poorer nations to handle projects focusing on environmental sustainability and the challenges of climate change.


The EBRD is one of the TaiwanICDF’s longest-standing and most important partners. In addition to providing micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises throughout Central and Eastern European and Central Asia with access to financing, and promoting private sector development, in recent years the organizations have focused on the joint promotion of projects associated with green energy, in response to the international community’s growing concern for climate change. The promotion of “sustainable resources” became one of the most important areas of development among the EBRD’s countries of operation following the organization’s promotion of its Sustainable Energy Initiative in mid-1995.

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• Update: 2022/03/11
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