International Luggage Manufacturing Company

completed

Description of the CompanyThe Project is to expand the operations of Boscan Jordan Group, a Jordanian manufacturer of soft-side luggage products selling primarily to the US market. Boscan Jordan''s existing facilities consist of 20 production lines in ILMC I. The Project will add 40 additional production lines. The Company''s products are manufactured and sold under brand names by major US retail chains. Boscan''s speciality is carry on luggage, one of the fastest growing sectors of the luggage market. Developmental ImpactThe Project is expected to have a significant development impact in employment creation in Irbid, which has an unemployment rate of more than 20%. ILMC I currently employs 1,150 people including 600 sewing machine operators, almost all of whom are women. Other Boscan Group companies in Jordan employ an additional 2,500 people in garment making and textiles. The Project will provide an additional 2,300 jobs, more than 50% of which are expected to be for women. To date ILMC has trained its work force by employing 1/3 experienced Chinese staff, many of whom will move to the new facilities to train staff as the new units come on stream. This will in turn open up greater opportunities for Jordanian employees to advance within the Company. The Project, in tandem with training initiatives underway by the Group with local colleges, will help build a pool of skilled manufacturing workers in Jordan. IFC''s RoleThe primary role of IFC in this transaction is to complement the Group''s available resources by providing long term US$ funds which are not otherwise available locally. The proposed IFC equity investment in BJG can be expected to further deepen the pool of potential investors for the Group. Boscan''s investments in Jordan are recent and the Group is now poised to launch an ambitious program of expansion, even for the scale of Group resources available. The IFC financing will provide critical support for the growth of Boscan''s activities in Jordan and more generally for foreign investment in the Al-Hassan Qualifying Industrial Zone and other Jordanian Q.I.Z.''s.