EX-IM BANK FINANCES U.S. MEDICAL EQUIPMENT EXPORTS TO TURKEY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 18, 2002
Media Contact Name/Phone
Marianna Ohe (202) 565-3200

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) today approved a $14.3 million long-term guarantee supporting the $14.5 million sale by Marubeni America Corp., San Francisco, CA, and several U.S. suppliers of medical equipment for the Oncology Hospital of Hacettepe Universitesi in Ankara, Turkey.

Suppliers on the transaction include: GE Medical Systems, Waukesha, WI; Hill-Rom Co. Inc., Batesville, IN; Steris Corp., Mentor, OH; Beckman Coulter Inc., Fullerton, CA; Fischer Imaging Corp, Denver, CO; Aras USA Inc., Lyndhurst, NJ; and Varian Medical Sytems Inc., Palo Alto, CA. The equipment includes image archiving technology, a linear accelerator system, and beds and stretchers.

The transaction is a dual currency guarantee, with a portion of the contract invoiced in US dollars and a portion in Euros. Although Ex-Im Bank has a program to guarantee financing in foreign currencies, this transaction is Ex-Im Bank's first dual-currency guarantee. The dual currency feature was used to accommodate those U.S. manufactures involved in the export sale whose representatives in Europe had quoted sales invoices in Euros.

The guaranteed lender is Citibank N.A., New York, NY. The primary source of repayment is the government of Turkey.

Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports, primarily to growth markets throughout the world, by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance. In fiscal year 2002, Ex-Im Bank authorized $282 million in financing to support U.S. exports to Turkey, and worldwide authorized $10.1 billion in financing to support $13 billion of U.S. exports.