Europack, an Egyptian manufacturer of tin packaging solutions for industrial goods, will receive a €1.78mn-equivalent loan in local currency from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The direct financing is part of the bank’s small business initiative, which aims to provide direct finance to selected small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The financing will help the company expand its production by purchasing plastic packaging and general tin can production lines.

New packaging for environmentally dangerous goods (such as chemicals) will be developed to reach the standards required to meet United Nations certifications, which will facilitate exporting those products to markets with higher environmental safety requirements.

The EBRD will also finance an accredited auditor to support Europack in adopting state-of-the-art standards in reporting, accounting and corporate governance so as to facilitate access to finance from local commercial banks.

“The Europack project illustrates the EBRD’s unique capacity to be able to provide both finance and technical support to our clients. Moreover, in receiving the UN certification, Europack will become the first packaging company in Egypt to obtain such a qualification, which sets an example for the sector,” says Philip ter Woort, EBRD director for Egypt.