EX-IM BANK SUPPORTS ENVIRONMENTALLY BENEFICIAL U.S. EXPORTS FOR LAND RECLAMATION PROJECT IN BEIRUT, LEBANON
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) is providing a $14.7 million long-term guarantee to support the $15.8 million export by Radian International LLC, Houston, TX and numerous other U.S. suppliers of excavation equipment and waste treatment and technology services to Lebanon. More than a third of the U.S. exports are from small businesses. The Lebanese Company for the Development and Reconstruction of Beirut Central District, known by its French acronym SOLIDERE, will use the equipment and services to reclaim Phase 2 of the environmentally problematic Normandy Landfill adjacent to the Mediterrranean Sea in Beirut's Central District (BCD).
The sale qualifies as an environmentally beneficial export. SOLIDERE is the primary source of repayment on the transaction. Citibank, N.A., Manama, Bahrain, is the guaranteed lender.
U.S. suppliers on the export sale include: Tarmac Industries Inc., Blue Springs, MO; Wildcat Manufacturing Co., Inc., Freeman, SD; Advanced Combustion Systems Inc., Bellingham, WA; Ati Global Inc., Delhi IA; Enviroquip Systems Inc., Myerstown, PA; S S I Shredding Systems Inc., Wilsonville, OR; O I Corporation, College Station, TX; Analytical Instrument Co. Inc., Golden, CO; Advanced Environmental Systems, Elkton, MD; Buck Scientific Inc., Norwalk, CT; Vallen Safety Supply Co., Irving, TX; Reed Machinery, Inc., Hingham, MA; and C K S Regal Plastics, Dallas, TX.
This transaction benefits both of our countries, supporting Lebanon's economic development as well as U.S. small business export growth, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A. Harmon.
SOLIDERE will reclaim the Normandy Landfill and convert it into marketable, structurally sound real estate that poses no risk to public health or the environment. Radian will provide engineering design, equipment procurement and construction management services, and will submit environmental progress reports to Ex-Im Bank during site reclamation. Following reclamation, SOLIDERE will market the site to developers.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. government agency that helps finance the export of U.S. goods and services to emerging markets throughout the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. During fiscal year 2000, Ex-Im Bank supported $15.5 billion in U.S. exports.