ISLAMABAD: Habib Metropolitan Bank is among the 12 banks of Asia and the Pacific region that have won an Asian Development Bank (ADB) award for their role in supporting trade.

All the awardees, except JP Morgan Chase, are partner banks of ADB’s Trade Finance Programme (TFP). They were presented with the awards at a ceremony held in Manila, Philippines, on Thursday.

The TFP helps fill market gaps for trade finance in developing Asia by providing guarantees and loans to banks to support trade. Backed by ADB’s ‘AAA’ credit rating, the programme works with over 200 partner banks to provide companies with the financial support they need to engage in import and export activities.

Since 2009, the TFP has supported more than 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in about 10,000 transactions valued at over $20 billion in a wide range of sectors, from commodities and capital goods to medical supplies and consumer goods in the region’s most challenging markets.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2015

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