62708 LONG-TERM PARTNERSHIPS WITH EMERGING PLAYERS KS Hotels – Encouraging South-South Tourism Investment in Frontier IDA Countries Lao PDR and Cambodia are frontier IDA countries where IFC’s long-term financing is enabling Thailand- based KS Group in its construction of unique heritage-site and community-development focused hotels. KS Group’s strategic and multi-hotel expansion will take advantage of the rising demand for higher-end tourism services in these destinations. Plans include construction of a five-star boutique hotel in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage destination, which entails the partial rehabilitation of a cultural heritage building adhering to UNESCO guidelines. This is IFC’s first heritage-site hotel investment. With a commitment to operate socially responsible businesses, KS Group is also planning two other boutique hotels in Lao PDR and Cambodia that integrate community outreach in their operations. For example, this would include on-site vocational training for at-risk youths as well as opportunities for guests to engage in community-development activities with local villagers. Given the on-going difficulties in global credit markets, particularly in frontier emerging countries, IFC is playing a critical and counter-cyclical role in providing much needed long-term financing for the KS Group. IFC role and development impact: $6 million in long-term financing, otherwise unavailable, and spurring additional investment and building investor confidence in frontier IDA markets; Expert guidance on hotel development and management, and support for implementation of international accounting standards for increased disclosure and transparency; Direct and indirect job creation, plus expansion of local supply chain, contributing to poverty alleviation; Focus on environmental design and construction: another KS Group’s property, the Maldives luxury resort Alila Hadahaa, has received Green Globe environmental certification for design and construction; and Generation of additional foreign exchange earnings for two IDA countries; in Lao PDR tourism is the nation’s largest contributor to foreign exchange earnings, estimated at $200 million in 2007. For further information please contact: Henrik Elschner Pedersen 1-202-458-7807 or hpedersen@ifc.org Carolyn Cain 1-202-473-8843 or ccain@ifc.org Printed on material that meets international environmental standards and is from sustainably managed commercial forests. ifc.org 2009