The International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, will grant the first loan linked to sustainability to a company in the logistics services sector in Chile, which will be for an amount of 70 million USD to Agencies Universal S.A. (Agunsa).

The financial operation is associated with the fulfilment of goals related to the reduction of water consumption and gender equality.

“We are proud to be the first in the Chilean logistics industry to obtain a loan linked to sustainability, with specific environmental and diversity commitments. This agreement is the result of permanent and transversal work throughout the organization, forming part of Agunsa’s business strategy. Linking this financing to sustainable objectives adds value and reinforces our commitment in the areas where we operate,” indicated Fernando Rodríguez, CEO of Agunsa.

“This project reinforces our performance based on financial soundness and an efficient business model, with credit lines with competitive conditions. The agreement means a progress in the delivery of high standard services, aligned with the best practices for financial instruments and with a trend that will be a requirement for the industry in the years to come,” stressed Felipe Valencia, Agunsa’s Finance Manager.

“This pioneering investment, with a long-term structure, aims at providing financial certainty to an actor that has consolidated its local position and its diversification and international expansion. In the process, it plans to contribute to the further development of the logistics sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is an important engine of economic growth in the region,” the company said.

“In the context of economic slowdown and stricter financial conditions in Chile, this investment in AGUNSA, an actor committed to innovation and technology, seeks to increase productivity and competitiveness in the region through the promotion of trade and economic integration,” said David Tinel, IFC’s regional manager for the Southern Cone, who also highlighted the firm’s sustainability strategy and its replicability in the sector in which it operates.

“Agunsa’s commitment contemplates the fulfilment of certain goals linked to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations. Specifically, regarding SDG 6 (Clean water and sanitation) and SDG 12 (Responsible production and consumption), the company is encouraged to achieve a reduction in the consumption of fresh water at its facilities by 2025, while, with respect to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), the company is committed to continue advancing in gender equality and promoting the role of women in senior executive positions,” they concluded.