EX-IM BANK FINANCING HELPS COLOMBIA UTILITY BECOME Y2K COMPLIANT
J.D. Edwards Latin America, Coral Gables, FL is helping an electric power provider in Medellin, Colombia to prepare for the year 2000 with the sale of $8 million of computer hardware, software and technical support to create a Y2K-compatible management information system. An Ex-Im Bank $7.1 million guarantee of a loan by ABN Amro Bank N.V., Chicago, IL is making the purchase by Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM) possible.
This has been considered a very strategic account for us in Latin America, said Julio Vigil, Business Partner Manager of J.D. Edwards Latin America. EPM is a very visible company, a model of organization, technology and business process that many companies in the region look up to. We expect a great deal of follow-on business in Colombia and neighboring countries from this transaction.
Ex-Im Bank is playing an important role supporting U.S. companies' exports of software and services needed to address Y2K problems in emerging markets, and at the same time protecting many Ex-Im Bank investments, said Ex-Im Bank Vice Chair Jackie Clegg. Clegg has been at the forefront of Ex-Im Bank's Y2K compliance effort and last May announced a special Small Business Y2K Export Credit Insurance policy that waives Ex-Im Bank's $3 million annual export credit restriction, and enables exporters to protect their lenders from buyer performance risks.
The J.D. Edwards Y2K-compatible management information system is part of an overall operations modernization effort by EPM, the second largest generator of electricity in Colombia, owned 100% by Medellin city. Ex-Im Bank's guarantee was needed for the transaction because private financing on appropriate terms is not available in Colombia and access to international capital and financial institution markets is limited. J.D. Edwards is an international developer and marketer of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to industrializing and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank expects to support $15 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.