G-20 Initiative: The European Fund for Southeast Europe and its Underlying Concept Selected as the World's No. 1

FRANKFURT, November 12, 2010 - Incepted five years ago by KfW Entwicklungsbank (The German Development
Bank), the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE) was awarded first prize
at the G-20 summit in Seoul, receiving by far the most votes during a
world-wide election in early November. With this award, the innovative,
crisis-resistant fund model for financing small and medium enterprises (SME)
has received one of the highest credentials possible. Despite the global
financial crisis, the fund has been able to successfully raise private
capital, which has subsequently been distributed, quickly and
unbureaucratically, amongst more than 60 partner institutions in 14
transition and developing countries for the financing of investments by local
SME. The award acknowledges the fund's track record in terms of establishing
a financing infrastructure for SME and the creation of some 215,000 new jobs
since its inception. "Our thanks go to all those voters who selected our
concept, and we would also like to specifically thank our partners for the
trust they placed in us. We are committed to doing everything in our power to
efficiently and sustainably support small businesses in transition and
developing countries in order to put them in a position where they are able
to help themselves," said Dr Klaus Glaubitt, Chairman of EFSE's Board of
Directors, when commenting on the award.

The award is linked to the provision of capital for the realisation of
the concepts submitted. In fact, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper,
already promised capital totalling USD 20 million at the G-20 meeting in
June. What's more, additional donors have also indicated their support for
the most innovative concepts. The concept of long-term local-currency funding
of SME presented by EFSE as part of the "G-20 SME Finance Challenge" was
chosen as one of the 14 best and most creative approaches from a total of 345
submitted funding concepts. Monika Beck, head of the Competence Centre for
Financial Sector Development at KfW Development Bank, stressed: "At EFSE, we
have been working for quite some time now on the further provision of
long-term refinancing capital in local currency, as this approach removes a
considerable obstacle to investments by small businesses. The capital linked
to the award, leveraged through private donors, will significantly advance
this goal."

In the EFSE countries there is not only a need for long-term loans but,
more specifically, for loans in local currency that protect the end-borrower
against potential currency risk. By 2014, EFSE plans to financially support
400,000 micro and SMEs across 14 countries via its partner financial
institutions. A further 10,000 businesses will benefit from the local
currency investment window. Drawing on a total loan volume of EUR 2 billion,
it is intended to create a further 400,000 jobs by 2014. In addition, it is
intended to expand the investor base by attracting additional public and
private investors into the fund.

About the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)

EFSE aims to promote the economic development in Southeast Europe and its
neighbouring regions. In these regions, EFSE offers long-term funding for
qualified local financial institutions. This allows the granting of business
loans particularly to smaller but also to medium-sized enterprises (SME) as
well as housing loans to low-income private households. KfW is the initiator
of the fund, which is based on a public-private partnership model. The
capital stock is provided by public donors and international financial
institutions as well as institutional private investors. The fund is
administered privately by Oppenheim Asset Management Services and Finance in
Motion GmbH as fund manager and fund adviser, respectively. The investment
activities of EFSE are supported by the EFSE Development Facility, which
provides funding for technical assistance, consulting and training to partner
lending institutions as well as awareness raising and market enabling
activities.

For further information please visit www.efse.lu/.

    Media contact
    Samir Djikic
    E-mail: press@efse.lu
    Ph.: +49(0)69-9778-7650-26

Media contact: Samir Djikic, E-mail: press at efse.lu, Ph.: +49(0)69-9778-7650-26