Exporting across the Globe: Spotlight on the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Janelle Santerre Weyek is a senior commercial officer in the Foreign Commercial Service at the International Trade Administration.

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You have probably heard of the World Bank and the IMF (also known as the International Monetary Fund). You also may have heard of some others, e.g., the Inter-American Development Bank, the African Development Bank, or the Asian Development Bank. These institutions are also known as multilateral development banks (MDBs). Although you may not have heard of is the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), now is a great time to learn.

Put simply, MDBs provide financial and technical support to developing countries seeking to strengthen their economic management and reduce poverty. Across the globe every year, these banks lend billions of dollars to countries seeking to improve their economies and the lives of their citizens. They also offer numerous business opportunities for U.S. companies to expand their international footprint while simultaneously supporting global economic development.

For the past 3 years, I have served as the International Trade Administration’s liaison to the EBRD in London. Established in 1991, the EBRD has invested over 160 billion euros in more than 6,000 projects. In particular, the EBRD is a leader in climate finance and has launched extensive programming that dovetails with the Biden-Harris Administration’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment and clean technology priorities, making EBRD an ideal partner for ITA in collaborating on targeted outreach to U.S. industry.

During my time at the EBRD, I deepened the relationship between ITA and the EBRD to better support U.S. business interests and expand opportunities for U.S. companies interested in competing for tenders issued by the EBRD. This May, my EBRD colleagues and I finalized an unprecedented memorandum of understanding through the ITA Strategic Partnership Program. This memorandum will help us to better support U.S. businesses interested in working with the EBRD in specific priority sectors, namely the digital economy, the green economy and clean tech.

This first-of-its-kind memorandum of understanding mean for ITA and U.S companies advances three key objectives:

1. The memorandum will facilitate engagement between EBRD borrowers and U.S. industry decision-makers. That is, it will facilitate engagements that will put U.S. businesses in the room with clients of the EBRD, this will help to inform U.S. industry of the bank’s goals and objectives, as well as opportunities to get involved.
2. The memorandum can provide immense opportunities for U.S. small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). This is because the memorandum focuses specifically on increasing engagement on the EBRD’s Green Cities Program, which is a strong match for U.S. industry and U.S. small, medium-sized, women-owned, and minority-owned businesses, as the program has municipal-level opportunities of the appropriate size and scale for diverse enterprises looking for new business.
3. Enhanced public engagement and counseling with U.S. businesses that target projects with international development financing. As a result of this memorandum, ITA is organizing a series of best practices roundtables and webinars that will involve ITA and EBRD clients, EBRD decision-makers and program leads that will take place over the next several months and throughout the fall of 2022.

While we’re just getting started on this partnership, I am very excited about the increased programming and support to boost U.S. businesses access and exposure to opportunities through this new partnership between ITA and the EBRD.

Please visit trade.gov to learn more about ITA’s work with multilateral development banks or check out ITA’s Guide to Doing Business with the Multilateral Development Banks.