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Press Release

Monday, April 23, 2007

U.S. Small Business Uses OPIC Insurance to Support Bottled Water Plant in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan – A U.S. small business will use political risk insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to support the establishment of a bottled water and beverage plant in Afghanistan, helping the country meet demand for clean drinking water, OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. announced today during a visit to Kabul.

OPIC will provide nearly $2.1 million in insurance to Big Sky Juice, LLC, of Grand Junction, Colorado, for its investment in subsidiary Afghanistan Natural Beverages, established in 2006 to operate a beverage bottling plant in Kabul. The project will begin by bottling local water, and may expand into bottling juices.

Mosbacher noted that in 2005 UNICEF reported that the great majority of Afghanistan’s population lacked access to safe water and that diseases related to water-quality are chronic threats to public health. Infant, under-five, and maternal mortality rates in Afghanistan are among the world’s highest.

“Securing the public health is a critical step in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, and provision of clean drinking water is a vital component of that effort. OPIC is pleased to support a U.S. small business on a project with such important developmental benefits for Afghanistan,” Mosbacher said.


OPIC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution.  It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy.  Because OPIC works with the U.S. private sector, it helps U.S. businesses gain footholds in emerging markets catalyzing revenues, jobs and growth opportunities both at home and abroad.  OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.

 

Established as an agency of the U.S. Government in 1971, OPIC operates on a self-sustaining basis at no net cost to American taxpayers. OPIC services are available for new and expanding business enterprises in more than 150 countries worldwide. To date, OPIC has supported nearly $200 billion of investment in over 4,000 projects, generated $74 billion in U.S. exports and supported more than 275,000 American jobs.