According to the judges of “The Banker”, the main factors that determined KICB’s victory in the nomination “Bank of the Year 2019 in Kyrgyzstan” were resilience to external factors, commitment on innovations in technology and information security, and sustainable CSR activities.

This is a remarkable achievement as the International panel of judges of “The Banker” selected KICB as Best Bank for the second successive year. “Bank of the Year” from “The Banker” is awarded to banks in 140 countries based on the criteria of dynamic growth of the bank, development and implementation of innovative banking technologies, as well as implementation of strategic projects.

“We strive to provide banking services at the highest level to our customers. KICB has proved to be a sustainable bank, providing innovative products for financial involvement of a large number of population in the country. We are grateful to the international experts for fair assessment of our activity in the Kyrgyz Republic. Acknowledgment of KICB’s achievements at the international financial market indicates that we are on the right way”, said Kwang Young Choi, CEO of KICB.

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18 November 2019, Bishkek – Open Joint Stock Company Halyk Bank Kyrgyzstan (OJSC Halyk Bank Kyrgyzstan, hereinafter referred to as the “Bank”), subsidiary of Halyk Bank, announced its intention to increase its share capital to KGS1.2 billion.

The resolution was passed on 12 November 2019 at the Extraordinary General Shareholders’ Meeting of the Bank.

After all appropriate procedures the share capital of the Bank will be increased by two times –from KGS600,008,000 to KGS1,200,008,000 (equivalent to USD17 million), which will allow the Bank to take the eighth place out of 24 STBs in terms of the share capital in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The capital increase confirms the shareholder’s willingness to support the growth and development of the Bank, and further strengthens the Bank’s position in the financial market of the Kyrgyz Republic.

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On June 29th 2019 with the support of JSC Aiyl Bank, a factory was opened on the basis of Karizma Trade LLC for the production of wet wipes under the “Best”trade name.

Representatives of the Bank led by the Deputy Chairman of the Board Uranbek Sharapov, as well as partners of Karisma Trade, took part in the grand opening.

A tour of the factory’s territory was held by co-founder and executive director Camille Komurzhu. He personally introduced all stages and details of production to the guests. Today “Karisma Trade” produces 10 varieties of products.

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Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, September 19, 2018—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, with support from the International Development Association (IDA) Private Sector Window, is investing a $8 million in a debut private equity fund by Highland Capital, an investment management firm, to help expand access to finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Kyrgyz Republic.

The financing package includes $4 million from IFC’s own account blended with $4 million from the IDA Private Sector Window.

The new Highland Private Equity and Mezzanine Fund, which currently has $15 million in capital commitments, is the first institutional private equity fund in the country. The fund will provide critical growth capital of $800,000 to $5 million to local SMEs in services, agricultural processing, health, education, telecommunications, media, and technology. This is critical because smaller business across the country often struggle to access the capital they need to expand.

Cholpon Jumashukurov, Highland Capital’s Senior Managing Partner, said: “We are thrilled to have built a diversified base of high‐caliber investors, including IFC and other private investors. We are thankful to IFC, our anchor investor, and to Emil Umetaliev, a reputable local businessman, who trusted our team and approach by investing in our fund. Our investment approach fits the local market very well as it addresses the huge deficit of risk capital. We see a large number of compelling investment opportunities and we favor investments where our team can add significant value beyond capital provision.”

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Maksat Ishenbaev, Chairman of the Bai-Tushum Bank Executive Committee, expressed gratitude to the USAID Agro-Horizon Project at the Trade and Investment Forum that took place on June 5-6 for the fruitful cooperation and contribution to the development of the economy of country regions. According to Maksat Ishenbaev, three innovations were introduced in the Bai-Tushum Bank as part of the USAID Agro Horizon Project.

“The first innovation is value added chain (VAC) financing, the second – the introduction of remote loan applications analysis through a tablet solution. Bank’s officers got an opportunity to make a quick assessment at client’s business location, which enabled our loan officers to get response on the possibility of lending within one hour. Thus, we save the time of both our clients and bank’s employees. And the third innovation we have introduced is the agent network and remote banking service development. We strive to expand the use of remote service channels by our clients, as well as to increase the volumes of loan repayments through terminals. The clients do not need to visit the office, all they have to do is to find a payment terminal next to their business or residence. As part of remote service channels promotion, we are planning to expand the cash-in terminal network and introduce a cash out system. The clients in remote regions will find this service method very convenient, as there will be no need to spend time and money to travel to a Bank’s office and borrow a loan”, – said Maksat Ishenbaev.

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