East Asia and Pacific | World Bank

Vietnam-VN-Public Investment Reform 1

Mongolia - Additional Financing for the Energy Sector Project

East Asia and Pacific - Livestock Waste Management in East Asia Project : procurement plan

Environmental management of upgrading and rehabilitation of rural roads in the Ningxia province in China

The development objective of the Ningxia Highway Project of China is to improve the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Ningxia Autonomous Region through a more effective, equitable, and sustainable use of the regional road infrastructure in support of industry and poor agricultural producers as measured by reduced transit times on improved highways and improved access for rural communities. Negative impacts are as follows: ecological impact, traffic noise, surface water pollution, air pollution, linkage isolation, visional landscape, risk accident, and soil erosion. Mitigation measures include: 1) in line selection high quality wood land and farm land shall be occupied as little as possible while wasteland and shrub land shall be used as much as possible; 2) noise reduction measures shall be considered during highway design and corresponding cost estimation shall be made, 3) according to the prediction, sound isolation window, sound barrier, height increased fence or dismantle may be done depending on different sensitive site, which will be included in design and bid document, 4) strengthen design of crash carrier for river crossing bridge; 5) during line selection phase, sensitive sites shall try to be avoided. During design phase, the locations of construction access and lime soil mixing station shall be reasonably selected so as to try to avoid dense populated area. Material transportation route shall be reasonably designed so as to be away from residence area as far as possible; and 6) solid wastes in the construction camp should be collected regularly and sent to specified municipal solid waste disposal station for treatment.

Policy framework for resettlement and land acquisition of local roads improvement program

The development objective of the Ningxia Highway Project of China is to improve the attractiveness and competitiveness of the Ningxia autonomous region through a more effective, equitable, and sustainable use of the regional road infrastructure in support of industry and poor agricultural producers as measured by reduced transit times on improved highways and improved access for rural communities. Negative impacts of the project include: permanent land acquisition, structure to demolished, affected people, affected trees, and affected vulnerable groups. Mitigation measures include: (a) involuntary resettlement and land acquisition will be avoided/minimized as much as possible; (b) if resettlement and land acquisition cannot be avoided, action plans will be prepared for compensation and rehabilitation of the affected people; (c) adequate funds will be timely provided for implementing such action plans; (d) preparation and implementation of such action plans will be conducted in consultation with the local governments and the affected people, on all the components with resettlement and compensation; (e) compensation will be paid at replacement costs without depreciation; (f) compensation will be paid prior to the move and acquisition of land; (g) the affected people will be assisted during relocation and in their livelihood rehabilitation activities; (h) the living standards of the affected people will be restored at least or improved after resettlement activities; (i) all the costs related to land acquisition and structure demolition will be included in the project cost estimates; and j) the action plans will be prepared on an annual basis for each county, and the plans will be reviewed by the province/municipality and be accepted by the World Bank before the relevant civil engineering work.

Philippines - Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Social Fund Project

China - Zhejiang Qiantang River Basin Small Town Environment Project

Philippines - Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) Bus Reduction Project : environmental and social assessment

The objective of the Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) Bus Reduction Project for Philippines is to reduce emissions from buses operating on EDSA by rationalizing the number of buses operated. Negative impacts include: direct pavement producing dusts and mud; absence of or inadequate sanitation facilities; lingering drainage problem particularly on the access road; susceptible to air and noise pollution as the parking space is very close to the mall shopping area and there is residential subdivision nearby; and air emissions and noise from engines and horns. Mitigation measures include: 1) concreting of terminal ground, provision of passenger/ driver waiting shed/ structure, and provision washrooms; 2) improvement of drainage of road fronting terminal building and provision of adequate ventilation; 3) turn off engines, ban blowing of horns, and dispatch buses from their position in the queue rather than from the beginning of the queue; 4) provide a general schedule for buses to enter the queue; 5) development and use of civil works environmental guidelines; 6) engines should be shut down while the bus is parked and should be started only when dispatch; and 7) provide adequate terminal capacities.

Philippines - Methane Recovery from Waste Management Project : indigenous peoples plan

The objective of the Methane Recovery from Waste Management Project for Philippines is to support environmental protection and promote sustainable development, while mitigating carbon credit risks, e.g., under-delivery of carbon credits, and other risks arising from different types of operational non-compliance. In cases where indigenous peoples (IPs) and indigenous cultural communities (ICCs) will be affected, prior to the preparation of the resettlement plan (RP), the project owner must secure a Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) or a consensus of all members of the indigenous peoples and indigenous cultural communities. This will be determined in accordance with their respective customary laws and practices, free and obtained after the project owner's full disclosure of the intent and scope of the activity, in a language and process understandable to the concerned communities. It will be ensured that same social and economic benefits will be granted to such groups, recognizing their rights and privileges to their ancestral domains/lands. Toward this end, the following fundamental measures will be ensured: 1) effect on income and resources will be avoided or minimized in assets acquisition that results in displacement of people; 2) displaced persons (DPs) are provided with sufficient compensation and assistance for lost assets, income sources, and livelihood that will assist them to improve, or at least maintain, their pre-project standard of living; 3) special attention is paid to affected vulnerable groups, such as poverty groups, the handicapped, women-headed households, people with weak or absent tenure rights, etc.; and 4) all project stakeholders, including DPs, are consulted and are encouraged to participate in varying practicable ways in the design, implementation and operation of the project.

Philippines - Methane Recovery from Waste Management Project : resettlement plan

The objective of the Methane Recovery from Waste Management Project for Philippines is to support environmental protection and promote sustainable development, while mitigating carbon credit risks, e.g., under-delivery of carbon credits, and other risks arising from different types of operational non-compliance. Some of the negative impacts and their mitigation measures include: 1) displaced persons (DPs) losing all of their lands and structures, or incurring partial loss but where the remaining assets and properties are determined by competent authorities as not viable anymore for continued use will be paid full compensation for the entire asset at replacement cost. The compensation for the entire asset at replacement cost may be given in cash or in kind. The project owner will assume ownership of the said asset upon payment of full compensation thereof; 2) granting of rehabilitation support in the form of special skills training, project-related employment, micro-credit or other self-help socio-economic support to DPs who are severely affected due to the loss of productive assets and/or their primary source of income and which will require them to engage in some other income earning activities. If needed, the project owner will coordinate closely with concerned government agencies that have the mandate and the expertise to undertake the needed rehabilitation assistance; 3) rehabilitation support will also be granted to severely affected vulnerable groups such as indigenous groups, single parent households, the handicapped, the elderly, etc., who have the least capacity to cope with the adverse social and economic impacts of development projects; and 4) where relocation is considered necessary, the lot owner of the proposed relocation site will also be entitled to compensation for his/her land, and depending on his/her choice, the compensation may be in cash or in the form of replacement land, of the same value, within or outside the relocation site.

Philippines - Methane Recovery from Waste Management Project : safeguards framework manual

China - Liaoning Medium Cities Infrastructure Project : procurement plan

China quarterly update, November 2009

Large fiscal and monetary stimulus has supported a recovery in China's economy. Falling exports amidst the global recession have been a major drag on growth. Nonetheless, real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rose to 8.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter on the back of the stimulus. Although most of the stimulus has shown up in infrastructure oriented government-led investment, some has been consumption-oriented and domestic demand growth has been broad based. Resurgent housing sales have started to feed through to construction activity. Investment in manufacturing is affected by spare capacity, but consumption has held up well. The strong domestic demand has buoyed import volumes and the current account surplus may fall to 5.5 percent of GDP this year even with import prices down sharply. The downturn has clearly affected the labor market, but the impact has been smaller than expected and the trough may have been past. In the medium term, the recovery can only be sustained by successful rebalancing of the economy. Rebalancing and getting more growth out of the domestic economy call for more emphasis on consumption and services and less on investment and industry. On earlier initiatives, some further steps have been taken in recent months to rebalance and boost domestic demand, including increasing the presence of the government in health, education, and social safety; improving access to finance and SME development; and mitigating resource use and environmental damage. These are useful steps, but more policy measures will be needed to rebalance growth in China, given the strong underlying momentum of the traditional pattern. Structural reforms to unleash more growth and competition in the service sector and stimulate more successful, permanent migration would be particularly welcome.

Disparities in labor market performance in the Philippines

The Philippine economy has been growing rapidly, at an annual growth rate of 5 percent over the past five years. Such decent growth in gross domestic product, however, did not translate into an increase in household income. Wage income declined in real terms. The poverty headcount increased slightly. The fruits of economic growth were not shared equally across the country. Challenges remain to create more jobs to keep pace with the rapidly growing active population. Using the Philippines Labor Force Survey data (2003-2007), this paper reviews the disparities in labor market performance and examines the contribution of regional and individual characteristics. The results show that real wages declined and disparities widened between the National Capital Region and other islands. The youth, less educated, and women face more challenges in finding employment with a decent salary, other things being equal. Disparities in labor market performance are largely associated with the difference in regional structure and human capital endowment. Individual characteristics account for roughly one-third of the difference in wages between the National Capital Region and other regions; regional structures and other unobservable factors account for two-thirds of the difference.

Education and wage differentials in the Philippines

In the Philippines, an important part of income inequality is associated with the wage difference between the less educated and the better educated. The majority of the least educated are employed in low-paid services jobs and the agricultural sector. Tertiary education is to a large extent a prerequisite for high-paid occupations. Using the Labor Force Survey 2003-2007, this paper examines disparities in human capital endowment, returns to education, and the role of education in wage differentials in the Philippines. The empirical results show that returns to education monotonically increase - workers with elementary education, secondary education, and tertiary education earn 10 percent, 40 percent, and 100 percent more than those with no education. The results also show that education is the single most important factor that contributes to wage differentials. At the national level, education accounts for about 30 percent of the difference in wages. It accounts for a higher percentage of the difference for female workers (37 percent) than male workers (24 percent). There are also differences across regions and sectors. As an economy develops, the demand for skills increases. In the Philippines, efforts to improve education to increase the supply of highly educated people are important not only for long-term growth, but also for helping to translate growth into more equal opportunities for the children of the current generation.

Malaysia economic monitor : repositioning for growth

Malaysia is emerging from one of the worst export slumps in its economic history as manufacturing and exports have started growing again. With East Asia leading the recovery and advanced economies showing progressive improvement, the Malaysian economy is projected to grow at 4.1 percent in 2010, following a contraction of 2.3 percent in 2009. The medium-term outlook remains promising with growth reaching 5.6 and 5.9 percent in 2011 and 2012, respectively, though that will depend on sustained global recovery from the crisis. The overriding medium-term challenge is for the Malaysian economy to join the select group of high-income countries. Malaysia has experienced solid growth over the last decades, but has relied on an economic model predominantly based on capital accumulation, although private investment rates never recovered from their 20 percentage point fall after the Asian 1997/98 crisis and are now among the lowest in the region. For Malaysia to climb the next step up the income ladder, it needs to focus on improving the investment climate to raise investment rates and focus on productivity growth. Against this backdrop, the authorities are developing a 'new economic model,' which will be squarely centered on boosting productivity. Promising reforms have already been announced in the areas of services and foreign direct investment, which will help revitalize private investment.

Transforming the rebound into recovery

A vigorous economic rebound is under way in East Asia since the second quarter of 2009, following the sharp impact from the financial crisis and the global recession that began in late 2008. As much as the reduction in exports and industrial production across the region in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 was unexpectedly swift and deep, so is the strength of the rebound, with doubts about green shoots dispelled in a matter of months and replaced by near-consensus views of a synchronized global rebound led by emerging East Asia. The robust rebound is due to a combination of timely and large fiscal and monetary stimulus in most countries in East Asia, notably in China, and a powerful process of inventory restocking that began after mid-2009. Globally, the advanced economies joined the rebound trend in the third quarter of 2009, and their contributions to global industrial production notably driven by inventory accumulation have begun to outpace the contribution from the East Asia region. These developments are set against a background of solid macroeconomic fundamentals, including high foreign exchange reserves, large private and corporate savings, and low corporate and government debt. The region's well-capitalized banks and much improved banking supervision since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis have also helped limit financial contagion and the transmission of the forces of global recession.

Urban youth bulges and social disorder : an empirical study of Asian and Sub-Saharan African cities

By 2050, two-thirds of the worlds population will live in cities, and the greatest growth in urban populations will take place in the least developed countries. This presents many governments with considerable challenges related to urban governance and the provision of services and opportunities to a burgeoning urban population. Among the concerns is that large youth bulges in urban centers could be a source of political instability and violence. Here, we assess this claim empirically using newly collected data on city-level urban social disorder, ranging from non-violent actions, such as demonstrations and strikes, to violent political actions, such as riots, terrorism, and armed conflict. The dataset covers 55 major cities in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa for 1960-2006. The study also utilizes a new United Nations Population Division dataset on urban populations by age and sex. The study further considers factors that could condition the effect of age structure, in particular the level of informal employment, economic growth, education, and gender imbalances. The analysis finds that large male youth bulges aged 15-24 are not generally associated with increased risks of either violent or non-violent social disturbance. Furthermore, the proxy measures of "youth exclusion" do not seem to increase the risk that large urban male youth bulges are associated with either form of disturbance. However, several other factors that may be associated with higher levels of youth exclusion - notably absence of democratic institutions, low economic growth, and low levels of secondary educational attainment - are significantly and robustly associated with increasing levels of urban social disturbance.

Vietnam - Urban Water Supply Development Project : procurement plan

World Bank’s Fund for Poorest Countries Delivers Record Support during Global Crisis

2009-11-20T20:02:50.000Z

Contact:

In Washington: Angela Furtado (202) 473-1909

Afurtado@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, November 20, 2009 – World Bank management and representatives of 45 donor and 12 borrowing countries today concluded a three-day review of the performance of the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s fund for the 79 poorest countries, that has delivered record support during the global economic crisis.

The three-day review of the 15^th replenishment period (IDA15), which covers funding from July 2008 to June 2011, included discussions on IDA’s policy and financial framework, the impact of the crisis on low-income countries, and measures to ensure swifter and more effective support to countries affected by crises. In particular, the group advanced a proposal for the creation of a Crisis Response Window in IDA15.

“We are very encouraged by donors’ and partners’ recognition of IDA’s overall performance and effective response to the global economic crisis,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “Although IDA operates under a fixed, three-year financial envelope, we have leaned forward, including through front-loaded and fast-tracked assistance, to scale up support to poor countries severely hit by the crisis. As a result, IDA’s lending commitments in the course of IDA15 have hit record levels.”

Following recent calls from the G-20 and the Development Committee, the Mid-Term Review of IDA15 advanced a proposal for the creation of a dedicated crisis response window in IDA to assist low income countries mitigate the impact of the global economic crisis.

“The financial gap created by the global crisis not only jeopardizes the progress made by countries, such as Rwanda, whose governments have been working hard to implement important reforms, it also reduces our chances of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. A crisis response window in IDA15 will help us mitigate the short-term impacts of crises without sacrificing long-term efforts,” said James Musoni, Rwanda’s Finance and Economic Planning Minister, who participated in discussions about the impact of the crisis on low-income countries.

“We are delighted by the support of donors and partners for the creation of a crisis window within IDA15,” said Zoellick. “We will now be submitting the proposal to the IDA Board of Directors for approval.”

“While there are signs of recovery in developed countries, the risk of deepening poverty remains real in IDA countries.” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Managing Director and Chair of the IDA15 Mid-Term Review. The crisis response window in IDA15 would provide additional funding for the protection of core spending on health, education, safety nets, infrastructure and agriculture in IDA-only countries.

Record Lending and Effective Response to the Crisis

In the first 15 months of IDA15 (July 2008-October 2009), IDA commitments reached a record level of $16.9 billion; a 50 percent increase over the comparable period in IDA14. This reflects a strong IDA15 replenishment size (which increased by 30 percent to $42 billion) as well as IDA’s front-loading and fast-tracking of operations in response to the financial crisis. IDA’s disbursements in the same period were close to $14 billion, with a sharp increase in the first four months of FY10 (July 2009-October 2009) when they reached $4.6 billion compared to $2.4 billion a year earlier.

Africa continued to be IDA’s largest recipient, with 55 percent of total commitments and 46 percent of total disbursements. South Asia came in second, accounting for about a third of commitments and disbursements.

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For more information on IDA and access to the technical papers prepared

for the IDA15 Mid-Term Review, please visit: www.worldbank.org/ida

Paying Taxes 2010

2009-11-20T05:15:00.000Z

News Release
In Washington, D.C.:                                        In London:
Nadine Ghannam, World Bank Group         Natasha Davies, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Phone: + 1 (202) 473 3011                          Phone: +44 (0) 20 7212 3343/ +44 (0) 7709 019 290
E-mail: nsghannam@ifc.org                          E-mail: Natasha.davies@uk.pwc.com

Tax Reform Remains on the Agenda of Governments Despite Economic Downturn

Rome, Italy, November 20, 2009—Despite the economic downturn, government focus around the world has remained on tax reform, concludes a new report released today by the World Bank Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The report, Paying Taxes, finds that 45 economies made it easier to pay taxes, almost 25 percent more than in the previous year.

This year’s top reformer, Timor-Leste, introduced a new tax law, streamlined the business tax regime, and simplified tax administration. For the third year in a row, Eastern Europe and Central Asia had the largest number of reforms, with 10 economies reforming.

“Government efforts to streamline tax procedures and reduce time spent on compliance can make an important difference for small and medium enterprises, especially in difficult economic times,” said Penelope Brook, World Bank Group Director of the Global Indicators and Analysis department. “This year’s top reformer reduced compliance time by over 50 percent by rationalizing tax regulations, simplifying computation rules, and reducing payments.”

The report measures the ease of paying taxes across183 economies by assessing the administrative burden for companies to comply with tax regulations, and also by calculating companies’ total tax liability as a percentage of pre-tax profits. In the past five years, the report has recorded 171 reforms affecting taxes in 104 economies worldwide.

While 20 economies have reduced corporate income tax rates, 18 simplified the process of paying taxes. On average across all of the 183 economies covered in the report, the standard case study company measured has to make 31 tax payments and spend 286 hours on calculating and paying its taxes.

The results show that corporate income tax is just one of the taxes with which business must comply. On average, the company pays 9.5 different taxes and corporate income tax accounts for only 12 percent of payments, 26 percent of the time to comply, and 38 percent of the tax cost.

“The global recession has meant falling tax revenues and difficult tax policy choices,” said Susan Symons, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP partner. “The challenge is ensuring sufficient public revenues for the future while incentivizing investment and economic growth.”

For more information about the Doing Business report series, visit www.doingbusiness.org.

For more information about Paying Taxes, visit www.doingbusiness.org/taxes.

About the World Bank Group
The World Bank Group is one of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It comprises five closely associated institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Each institution plays a distinct role in the mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world. For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org, www.miga.org, and www.ifc.org.

About PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for our clients and their stakeholders. More than 163,000 people in 151 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. For more information about PricewaterhouseCoopers, please visit www.pwc.com.

The project MN Energy Sector Additional Financing is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-20T05:00:00.000Z

The project MN Energy Sector Additional Financing is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project PH-Social Welfare and Development Reform has changed to Active

2009-11-19T05:00:00.000Z

The project PH-Social Welfare and Development Reform has changed to Active. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objective of the Social Welfare and Development Reform Project in the Philippines is to strengthen the effectiveness of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as a social protection agency to efficiently implement the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and expand an efficient and functional National Household Targeting System (NHTS) of social protection programs. There are three components to the project. The first component of the project is support to the NHTS Poverty Reduction (PR). The objective of this component is to support the DSWD in implementing the NHTS-PR which will be used to better target the poor in key social assistance and social protection programs of DSWD and other government agencies. The NHTS-PR consists of a set of uniform, objective, and transparent criteria to select the poor, thus reducing the overall cost of targeting and improving coordination, efficiency, and effectiveness of social programs. The second component of the project is support to 4Ps. The objective of this component is to support the implementation of the CCT program - 4Ps in selected poorest provinces and municipalities. The 4Ps is a CCT program aimed at addressing poverty and supporting improved health and education outcomes of poor children and pregnant women. The 4Ps provides cash grants to poor households subject to their meeting certain conditions in health and education. The third component of the project is building institutional capacity to lead in social protection. This component will support the strengthening of basic institutional capacity of DSWD to strengthen its leadership role in social protection. It focuses on strengthening the capacity of DSWD to undertake policy analysis and strategic planning related to social protection.

World Bank Announces Landmark Policy on Access to Information

2009-11-19T04:03:48.000Z

Contacts:
In Washington: Geetanjali Chopra, (1-202) 473-0243 - gchopra@worldbank.org
In Hanoi: Nguyen Hong Ngan (84-4) 934 6600 – 234 - nnguyen5@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2009 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Bank’s new policy on access to information which positions the Bank as a transparency leader among international institutions. The policy was informed by extensive external and internal consultations held in 33 countries and through the Bank’s external website. It reflects the views of member countries, civil society organizations, academia, parliamentarians, media, the private sector, international organizations, donor agencies, and Bank staff.

The new policy represents a fundamental shift in the Bank’s approach to disclosure of information – moving from an approach that spells out what documents it can disclose to one under which the Bank will disclose any information in its possession that is not on a list of exceptions. The policy statement will be finalized in December 2009 and become effective on July 1, 2010. A progress report will be presented to the Board by the end of 2011.

“This paradigm shift underscores the Bank’s commitment to transparency and accountability and recognizes their fundamental importance to development and to achieving the Bank’s mission of overcoming poverty and improving development effectiveness,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.

“I am personally grateful to all of the civil society organizations, government officials, and citizens of our member countries who contributed their ideas and perspectives as we developed this new policy through a global consultation process. We have collectively come up with a policy that is in line with international best practice and opens up the development process by fostering public ownership, partnership, and participation in World Bank-supported operations from a wide range of stakeholders,” he added.

The policy on access to information provides for the disclosure of more information than ever before – on projects under preparation, projects under implementation, analytic and advisory activities (AAA), and Board proceedings. This information will be easily accessible on the World Bank’s external website and available through the InfoShop, public information centers, and the World Bank Group Archives.

At the same time, the policy strikes a balance between maximum access to information and respect for the confidentiality of information pertaining to its clients, shareholders, employees, and other parties.

Recognizing that the sensitivity of some information declines over time, the policy provides for the eventual declassification and disclosure of restricted information over a period of five, 10 or 20 years, depending upon information type.

“Openness promotes inclusiveness, engagement with stakeholders and public oversight of Bank-supported operations,” said Jeff Gutman, Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services Vice Presidency. “This in turn will strengthen participation in the design and implementation of projects and policies and improve development outcomes,” he added.

The new policy includes clear procedures for responding to requests for information, as well as an appeals mechanism for requesters who believe that the Bank has unreasonably denied access to information that should be publicly available. This appeals mechanism includes review by an independent body consisting of international experts.

Over the next several months, the Bank will put in place measures that will enable effective and efficient implementation of the new access to information policy. Such measures include staff training; improving information management and technology systems; developing an effective document tracking system; strengthening the Archives Unit, the InfoShop, and the public information function in country offices; and establishing associated service standards.

The final policy statement incorporating comments from the Board will be issued in December 2009.

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New Environmental Analysis for a Sustainable Indonesia

2009-11-18T09:13:30.000Z

World Bank Office Jakarta
Indonesia Stock Exchange Building
Tower 2, 12th Floor (62-21-5299-3000)

Contact:
In Washington DC:
Mohamad Al-Arief
malarief@worldbank.org

In Jakarta:
Randy Salim
rsalim1@worldbank.org

Environmental governance and climate change adaptation identified as key challenges

A new World Bank report launched today highlights the upstream policy challenges that Indonesia faces in attaining environmental sustainability, and thus freeing up funds for better development outcomes. The Country Environmental Analysis examines the economic costs of environmental degradation and offers options on how best to address priority issues of environmental governance and climate change adaptation. The report was compiled through extensive consultations with the Indonesian government, non-government organizations and research institutes.

According to the analysis, the costs of environmental degradation to Indonesia’s economy can be summarized as follows:

Natural capital constitutes about one quarter of total wealth in Indonesia but is being rapidly depleted and not being offset by adequate investments in human or produced capital.
Climate change will result in a number of negative impacts on Indonesia, including reduced crop production, greater risks of flooding, and further spread of vector-borne diseases, with economic costs projected to reach 2.5-7.0 percent of GDP by 2100.
Poor sanitation is estimated to have led to major health, water, tourism and other welfare costs worth more than $6 billion in 2005, or more than 2 percent of GDP that year.
Outdoor and indoor air pollution is estimated to have led to health impacts worth about $5.5 billion per annum or about figure is 1.3 percent of GDP (2007).
Deforestation since 2001 reached over 1 million ha per year, This is reduced from historical highs over 2.5 million ha per year, but still very high compared to other tropical forested countries. Forest loss and peat land conversion cause environmental degradation, health and biodiversity losses, and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Environmental degradation has a high cost for Indonesia. However, with the recent passing of new laws in environment, electricity and solid waste management, Indonesia is clearly on the path towards a more environmentally sustainable future,” said Joachim von Amsberg, World Bank Country Director for Indonesia. “The next step in this transformation is to match this legal framework with adequate capacity and incentives at all levels of government, while at the same time take the appropriate adaptation and mitigation measures to address climate change.”

Indonesia has been identified as one of the countries in Asia most vulnerable to climate change hazards. Drought, floods, sea-level rise, and landslides are among the hazards that will affect mainly poor communities living on the coast and dependent on agriculture, fisheries and forestry for their livelihoods. However, with the right adaptation measures, the annual benefit of avoided damage from climate change is likely to exceed the annual cost by 2050 without adaptation investments.

“Climate change raises the stakes for achieving sustainable development, but also brings opportunities for lower carbon growth and climate finance for mitigation and adaptation. More importantly however, as evidenced by President Yudhoyono’s recent G-20 speech, Indonesia is deeply committed to achieving sustainability and is taking action,” said Timothy H. Brown, Senior Natural Resources Specialist for the World Bank in Indonesia. “International partners like the World Bank stand ready to help Indonesia achieve greater sustainability and realize its ambition of low carbon growth.”

At the G-20 Leaders Summit in Pittsburgh, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono among other things announced that Indonesia was willing to reduce emissions by 26 percent by 2020 from Business As Usual ; planning a billion ton CO2 reduction by 2050; aiming to make forestry a net sink sector by 2030; continuing its fuel efficiency policy; and working to make public transportation more environmentally friendly over the next 10 years.

FACTSHEET

Country Environmental Analysis: OptionsExpanding Access to Environmental Governance

Government	Work with other stakeholders to monitor and appraise the performance of its own institutions in fulfilling access to information, participation and justice, and encourage the adoption of policies that better guarantee their fulfillment. Encourage a process of legal reform so as to bring the de jure and de facto situations into line. Provide an integrated system capable of guaranteeing access, especially for marginalized groups. Develop the capacity of its institutions through the assignment of specially trained staff, the provision of the necessary infrastructure and facilities, and the allocation of adequate funding. Improve collaboration with the media and NGOs, as well as other stakeholders that have the potential to encourage the fulfillment of access principles.
Media	Actively and continuously scrutinize the performance of government on issues of access. Increase the attention it pays to environmental issues, including making of decisions that are likely to have an adverse impact on the environment.
NGOs	Monitor the process of legal reform so as to ensure that the gap between the de facto and de jure situations can be bridged. Collaborate with Government and other stakeholders so as to encourage better access. Encourage heightened public demand for access to information, to participate and to justice. Develop own capacities, and the capacity of the public, particularly marginalized groups, to secure access to information, to participate and to justice.

Climate Change Adaptation

	Reactive/Responsive	Pro-active/Anticipatory
Water Resources	Protection of groundwater resources Improved management and maintenance of existing water supply systems Protection of water catchment areas Improved water supply Groundwater and rainwater harvesting and desalination	Better use of recycled water Conservation of water catchment areas Improved system of water management Water policy reform including pricing and irrigation policies Development of fl ood controls and drought monitoring
Agriculture	Erosion control Dam construction for irrigation Changes in fertilizer use and application Introduction of new crops Soil fertility maintenance Changes in planting and harvesting times Switching to diff erent cultivars Educational and outreach programs on conservation and management of soil and water	Development of tolerant/resistant crops (to drought, salt, insect/pests) Research and development Soil and water management Diversifi cation and intensifi cation of food and plantation crops Policy measures, tax incentives/subsidies, free market Development of early warning systems
Forestry	Improvement of management systems including control of deforestation, reforestation, and aff orestation Promoting agroforestry to improve forest goods and services Development/improvement of national forest fire management plans Improvement of carbon storage in forests	Creation of parks/reserves, protected areas and biodiversity corridors Identifi cation/development of species resistant to climate change Better assessment of the vulnerability of ecosystems Monitoring of species Development and maintenance of seed banks Forest fire early warning systems
Coastal/Marine	Protection of economic infrastructure Public awareness to enhance protection of coastal and marine ecosystems Building sea walls and beach reinforcement Protection and conservation of coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass, and littoral vegetation	Integrated coastal zone management Better coastal planning and zoning Development of legislation for coastal protection Research and monitoring of coasts and coastal ecosystems
Health	Public health management reform Improved housing and living conditions Improved emergency response	Development of early warning systems Better and/or improved disease/vector surveillance and monitoring Improvement of environmental quality Changes in urban and housing design

World Bank Says Malaysia Emerging From Economic Slump

2009-11-18T05:00:00.000Z

Contacts
In Malaysia/Thailand:
Philip Schellekens
(+66-8) 3137-8340
pschellekens@worldbank.org

In Washington, DC:
Mohamad Al Arief
(+1-202) 458-5964
malarief@worldbank.org

KUALA LUMPUR, November 18, 2009 — Malaysia is emerging from an economic recession and will return to moderately high growth next year, said the World Bank in a new report released today. However, its medium-term outlook will depend on sustained global improvements and on how quickly the country manages to implement structural reforms.

In Malaysia Economic Monitor November 2009, the World Bank forecast that Malaysia’s gross domestic product would decline 2.3 percent this year, before growing 4.1 percent in 2010. Both the decline and rebound are attributable to conditions in the country’s manufacturing sector, which accounts for some 30 percent of GDP.

As global trade slumped during the last quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009, manufacturing firms, especially in electronics, cut production, ran down inventories, and slashed investments. Recently, industrial production and exports began to pick up again, thanks to rising regional demand. But it remains unclear whether this recent trend represents the beginning of a sustained recovery, as demand from advanced economies still needs to firm up, the World Bank said.

Managing the recovery will be a delicate balancing act, the Monitor cautioned. Withdrawing policy support too early runs the risk of choking off the recovery, whereas extending support for too long could hamper efforts to reduce government deficits and debt accumulation.

Malaysia Economic Monitor November 2009 will be a bi-annual World Bank’s review of the Malaysian economy, which will include the Bank’s policy recommendations to address the medium-term economic challenges. The Monitor being launched today is the first for Malaysia, member of the World Bank Group since 1958.

The Monitor is part of a wider effort to promote the sharing of knowledge among internal and external stakeholders—a requisite for the innovation-and knowledge-driven economy and a key pillar of the World Bank’s partnership with the Government of Malaysia, the World Bank said.

Malaysia’s medium-term outlook remains promising, but this is conditional on making headway on the structural reform agenda. The World Bank now forecasts that the country’s economy will grow 5.6 and 5.9 percent in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

The overriding challenge for Malaysia, the World Bank said, is to make the next step up the income ladder from upper-middle to high income economy. This is a difficult challenge—one which only few countries have successfully met in the post-war period—and requires strong and consistent leadership over a long period of time.

For Malaysia to reach its ambition of becoming a developed nation by 2020, the Malaysia Economic Monitor November 2009 proposes a four-pillar strategy. The World Bank argued that the strategy consists of efforts to specialize the economy further, improve the skills of its workforce; make growth more inclusive; and strengthen public finances.

Specializing the economy further will help boost the demand for skilled labor and raise incomes, the World Bank said. But for this to happen, Malaysian firms need to become more innovative. To promote innovation, the World bank said Malaysia’s economy needs to become more competitive internally. Highly focused technology and urbanization policies are also key.

The World Bank also called for improving the skills of the workforce, so that high-quality skills are available as the economy specializes further. Promoting incentives, competition and merit-based recruitment in education is essential. Curriculum development, teacher training, and private sector involvement will contribute as well to a better skill base.

Making growth more inclusive will ensure no one is left behind as the economy climbs up the income ladder. Effective and well-targeted social safety nets and social insurance programs will help households cope with poverty, promote entrepreneurship and support social cohesion, the World Bank said.

Strengthening public finances will help generate the resources for the high-income model, address concerns about the fiscal deficit, and reduce the crowding-out of private initiative. The World Bank called for measures to broaden the revenue base, lessen the significant role of subsidies and consider fiscal rules to stabilize public finance.

Malaysia Economic Monitor November 2009
is available for download at www.worldbank.org/my

The project Zhejiang Qiantang River Basin Small Town Environment Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-18T05:00:00.000Z

The project Zhejiang Qiantang River Basin Small Town Environment Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

World Bank Announces Landmark Policy on Access to Information

2009-11-17T22:22:13.000Z

Contacts:

Geetanjali Chopra

1 (202) 473-0243

gchopra@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17, 2009 – The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Bank’s new policy on access to information which positions the Bank as a transparency leader among international institutions. The policy was informed by extensive external and internal consultations held in 33 countries and through the Bank’s external website. It reflects the views of member countries, civil society organizations, academia, parliamentarians, media, the private sector, international organizations, donor agencies, and Bank staff.

“Openness promotes inclusiveness, engagement with stakeholders and public oversight of Bank-supported operations,” said Jeff Gutman, Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services Vice Presidency. “This in turn will strengthen participation in the design and implementation of projects and policies and improve development outcomes,” he added.

The final policy statement incorporating comments from the Board will be issued in December 2009.

-#-

Background

Over the past 15 years, the Bank’s policy on information disclosure has evolved in response to changes in the Bank’s business, the growing expectations of stakeholders, and the Bank’s continued commitment to enhancing transparency about its operations. The Executive Directors and Bank Management have periodically reviewed the policy and expanded its scope: for example, in 1993, 2001, and 2005.

For more information, please visit: www.worldbank.org

Philippines: Social Welfare and Development Reform Project

2009-11-17T18:45:36.000Z

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2009 - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the following project:

IBRD Loan: US$405 million equivalent

Terms: Maturity = 25 years; Grace Period = 10 years

Project ID: P082144

Project Description: The Social Welfare and Development Reform Project in the Philippines aims to strengthen the effectiveness of Department of Social Welfare and Development as a social protection agency to efficiently implement the Conditional Cash Transfer Program (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) and expand an efficient and functional National Household Targeting System for social protection programs.

Media Contact

Mohamad Al-Arief

(202) 458-5964

malarief@worldbank.org

For more project information, please visit:

http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P082144

WB Approves US$405m Financing to Support the Philippines' Social Welfare Reform Agenda

2009-11-17T17:39:59.000Z

Contacts:
In Manila: Dave Llorito (632) 917-3047

E-mail: dllorito@worldbank.org

Kitchie Hermoso (632) 917-3013

E-mail: mhermoso@worldbank.org

In Washington: Mohamad Al-Arief (202) 458-5964

E-mail: malarief@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, DC, November 17, 2009—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved today a US$405 million loan to support the Philippines’ Social Welfare and Development Reform Project (SWDRP). The project will strengthen the capacity of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as a social protection agency, finance part of the new conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, and establish a national household targeting system to identify the poor and improve targeting in social protection programs.

Called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the CCT program reduces poverty and improves children’s health and schooling as well as maternal health in poor households in the poorest provinces and municipalities in the country. The CCT program provides cash grants to poor households to keep their children in school and give them health care, as well as promoting adequate care for pregnant women.

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral said the technical and financial support from the World Bank is crucial in the country’s efforts to deliver social welfare programs to poor and marginalized people. “An effective household targeting system and the CCT program will serve as the main pillars of a coherent and well-targeted social protection system in the Philippines,” said Secretary Cabral.

Secretary Cabral said the SWDRP is part of on-going reform efforts in the country. She explained that the government has recently established an institutional framework for enhanced delivery of social protection programs that would consolidate various pro-poor programs into a single national social welfare strategy.

In early 2008, the government launched a pilot CCT program called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino or 4Ps, focused on supplementing the income of about 6,000 poorest households in selected municipalities while supporting the development of their human capital. In response to the global food crisis in the succeeding months, the government rapidly expanded the program to cover 1 million household beneficiaries by the end of the year. Transfers to some 376,000 households are covered by the World Bank loan, the rest being financed from the government’s own budget resources.

“We envision the CCT program to become the backbone of the country’s social protection,” explained Secretary Cabral. “With a more effective national household targeting system, I’m confident that we could better direct social assistance and protection programs to the poor and vulnerable sectors of society.”

World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman said supporting the country’s social welfare reform agenda is central to the Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) in the Philippines. He said that the CCT will augment incomes of beneficiary households by about 20 percent, providing them cushion against income shocks such as the food and fuel crisis in 2008 and the global financial crisis as well as strong incentives for the poor to invest in health and education of their children.

“Reducing the vulnerability of poor households to sudden economic difficulties and improving their access to education and health services are among the most tangible ways to make growth work for the poor,” stressed Mr. Hofman. He added that other Development Partners have been key in supporting the CCT program as well. “Technical assistance financed by AusAID [Australian Agency for International Development] has been crucial for the rapid development of such a large program. AusAID along with Korea and Japan will support proper monitoring and evaluation of the program,” he explained.

The SWDRP has three major components, namely:

Implementation of a National Household Targeting System (NHTS) for Poverty Reduction. NHTS will consist of a set of uniform, objective, and transparent criteria to select the poor for social welfare programs, thus reducing the cost of targeting, improving coordination, and promoting efficiency and effectiveness of social programs. It will develop a database of potential poor beneficiaries to be shared electronically or through other means with social programs including the 4Ps.
Conditional Cash Transfer Program or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). This component constitutes the core element of the social reform agenda undertaken by DSWD as it seeks to assist poor households with cash transfers to improve their consumption levels while encouraging greater use of basic and essential public services by the poor. Covering 376,000 households, the 4Ps will serve as a laboratory through which DSWD will operationalize the rest of the reform agenda and cascade the implementation of its reform agenda to local government units.
Building Institutional Capacity to Lead in Social Protection. This component aims to strengthen the basic institutional capacity of DSWD to assume a leadership role in social protection by developing the enabling policy environment for sustained implementation of the Philippines CCT program, broad adoption of the national targeting system, and installing a technically sound monitoring and evaluation system.

For more information on World Bank-assisted projects and programs in the Philippines,
visit www.worldbank.org.ph

The project Higher Education Development Policy Program - Second Operation is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-17T05:00:00.000Z

The project Higher Education Development Policy Program - Second Operation is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Smallholder Agriculture and Social Protection Support Operation has changed to Closed

2009-11-17T05:00:00.000Z

The project Smallholder Agriculture and Social Protection Support Operation has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Smallholder Agriculture and Social Protection Support Operation Program complement the Royal Government of Cambodia's efforts to address weaknesses in smallholder agricultural production and social protection systems which have come to light during the food price crisis. When high food and agricultural input prices hit Cambodia in early 2008, it was clear that existing mechanisms were insufficient to support vulnerable consumers and farmers. These weaknesses garnered much greater attention by both the Government and development partners given the on-going effects of high food prices and as the impact of the global economic crisis are increasingly felt. The US$13 million Development Policy Operation (DPO) - consisting of a US$8 million grant from the Global Food Response Program and US$5 million in International Development Association (IDA) credits, is a stand-alone, single tranche operation intended to support key policy actions which strengthen the enabling environment for direct support poor households. It recognizes the actions taken by Government to stimulate a supply response amongst smallholder farmers, and to mitigate the impact on household food consumption among poor and vulnerable populations. The operation also supports medium-term efforts to improve social safety nets and agricultural production systems through better policies, strengthened institutional frameworks, and improved transparency and governance.

Four Philippine CSOs Win Grants in 9th Global Development Marketplace in Washington DC

2009-11-16T06:04:22.000Z

Contacts:
In Manila: Dave Llorito (632) 917-3047
E-mail: dllorito@worldbank.org
Kitchie Hermoso (632) 917-3013
E-mail: mhermoso@worldbank.org
In Washington: Mohamad Al-Arief (1-202) 458-5964
E-mail: malarief@worldbank.org

Manila, November 16, 2009—Four Filipino civil society organizations were among 25 awardees who received a total of $4.8 million in the ninth annual Global Development Marketplace, a competitive grant program for innovation in development held in Washington last week. More than 1,700 entries vied for 25 grants of up to $200,000 each.

One hundred finalists from 47 countries were invited to the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington DC, to present their ideas on the theme, “100 Ideas to Save the Planet.” Of the 100 finalists, eight were from the Philippines.

David Manalo, a DM winner from the University of the Philippines Los Baños talks about a warning system for floods. Watch videos below.

Winners from the Philippines

Warning system for floods in the Philippines Project Description (pdf) | Video
SMS alerts on disaster risks Project Description (pdf) | Video
Mangrove restoration in fishing communities Project Description (pdf) | Video
Floating power chargers in flood-prone areas Project Description (pdf) | Video

East Asia and Pacific Blog

Innovative ideas to save the planet

Press Release

Development Marketplace Sites

"We are happy to note that eight out of the 100 finalists are from the Philippines and four of them won the grant competition. This goes to show just how creative Filipinos are in designing innovative solutions to development challenges. We need fresh and innovative ideas in dealing with climate change issues,” said Maryse Gautier, World Bank Acting Country Director.

The competition challenged participants to come up with an idea from their own communities to help save the planet and its people from the effects of climate change. The ninth annual Development Marketplace was sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank Institute.

The winning concepts come from East Asia and the Pacific (5), Europe and Central Asia (2), Latin America (13), the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa (5) and South Asia (2). Of the five winners from East Asia and Pacific, four were from the Philippines, namely:

Floating Power Charger: Providing Light in the Darkness of Climate Change. Heavy flooding in remote areas of the country often knocks out hydro power equipment built in rivers, resulting in blackouts. With the DM grant, Lambs Agri Mechanicals and FSSRI at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños will install floating hydro power generators in rivers that can be removed when it floods. The project will benefit over 2,000 people.
‘Bell and Bottle: Low-Cost Warning System for Flood/Slide-Prone Communities, an innovative system using soda bottles and bells to detect imminent landslides and floods in remote communities in the Philippines. This proposal by the Farming and Soil Resources Institute of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños and the Center for Initiative and Research for Climate Adaptation, is designed to protect over 12,000 people from disasters.
Strengthening Disaster Preparedness of Southern Leyte with SMS Technology, a project by the Philippines Business for Social Progress, will help prepare the residents of Southern Leyte for disasters by raising awareness of disaster risks through announcements and information-on-demand via mobile phones.
Fishing Communities Seek Security in Aquaculture and Mangrove Restoration, a project by the Trowel Development Foundation of the Philippines. Storms and rising sea levels threaten the livelihood of some 20,000 poor fishing households in Northern Samar who have abandoned their fishponds in a vast mangrove forest that once protected the villages from storms. With the DM grant, the Foundation will replant mangroves and set up a value-chain system to fatten and market tie-crabs. This will raise local incomes and build the capacity of fishing villages to adapt to climate change.

The four other finalists from the Philippines are the following: Farming Systems and Soil Resources Institute with its project Farmers Look to Fish Farming to Cushion the Impact of Climate Change; International Resources Group-Philippines, Gulay 4 Salambao: Contained Vegetable Farming for Fisherfolk’s Survival; Pipuli Foundation, Inc., Diversified Crop and Fish Farming for Food Security; and Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau, Mangrove Rehab Scheme to Provide Biofuel and Poverty Relief in the Philippines.

“The Development Marketplace is an important part of our mission to break down funding barriers and promote innovative entrepreneurial ideas at the grass-roots level," said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Besides grants of up to $200,000 in seed money, winners will get guidance and technical support as they move their projects into implementation. During the competition, all the participants were given the opportunity to hone their skills in project design by participating in knowledge and skills development sessions to help make them better development practitioners when they return home.

"Managing risks from climate change will require not only one hundred, but thousands of ideas from communities all over the world," said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. "This year’s contest was an opportunity to showcase the kind of creative thinking that can deliver tangible results in our work on climate adaptation. We will be watching how this year’s winners put their ideas into action."

Five wins for East Asia and Pacific are announced as the 2009 Global Development Marketplace on Climate Adaptation concludes

2009-11-13T21:00:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Washington:
Jonathan Daly, +1-202-458-2624
jdaly1@worldbank.org
Mohamad Al-Arief, +1-202-458-5964
malarief@worldbank.org

A DM winner from the Philippines. Watch videos below.

Winners from East Asia and Pacific

Traditional housing as sanctuary in Samoa: Project description (pdf) | Video
Warning system for floods in the Philippines Project description (pdf) | Video
SMS alerts on disaster risks Project description (pdf) | Video
Mangrove restoration in fishing communities Project description (pdf) | Video
Floating power chargers in flood-prone areas Project description (pdf)

East Asia and Pacific blog

Innovative ideas to save the planet

Development Marketplace sites

WASHINGTON, November 13, 2009—Innovative ideas from East Asia and the Pacific stood out this year, with 5 projects from the region being awarded funding at the 2009 Global Development Marketplace, a competitive grant program to fund innovation in development. Four of the winning projects came from the Philippines and one from the Pacific Island nation of Samoa.

This year’s contest—‘100 Ideas to Save the Planet’— set a simple challenge: come up with one idea from your own communities to help save the planet and its people from the effects of climate change. This ninth annual Development Marketplace was co-sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the World Bank Institute.

This year’s event, which ran from November 10-13, featured 100 finalists from 47 countries selected from over 1,700 project proposals. East Asia & Pacific fielded 19 finalists this year, with 5 securing grant funding for their projects. Nine countries from the region including The Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, and Samoa were represented.

“The Development Marketplace is an important part of our mission to break down funding barriers and promote innovative entrepreneurial ideas at the grass-roots level." said Monique Barbut, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Winning ideas receive up to $200,000 in seed money, as well as guidance, training, and technical support as projects move into implementation. More than this though, all participants benefit from being able to hone their project design skills; by participating in knowledge and skills development sessions designed to help make them better development practitioners on their return home—win or lose.

"Managing risks from climate change will require not only one hundred, but thousands of ideas from communities all over the world," said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. "This year’s contest was an opportunity to showcase the kind of creative thinking that can deliver tangible results in our work on climate adaptation. We will be watching how this year’s winners put their ideas into action."

Stand-out ideas from this year’s contest included:

From Samoa: Afeafe o Vaetoefaga Pacific Academy of Cultural Restoration, Research, and Development’s initiative to bring traditional knowledge to village and housing construction, to mitigate devastation caused by climactic disasters;
From the Philippines: The University of the Philippines’ (Los Baños) ‘Bell and Bottle’ initiative – providing a low cost, high efficacy flood and landslide warning system;

This year’s contest took place amid a wider pre-Copenhagen international discussion around climate change and its effects on developing countries. Many ideas combined traditional knowledge with 21st-century technology, as participants found creative ways to innovate, taking cues from both the ancient and the modern. Ideas included painting rocks around glaciers white to slow melting, to leveraging mobile telephony and SMS technology to strengthen disaster preparedness.

“Agriculture is where climate change, food security and poverty reduction intersect.” said Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “The Development Marketplace is an excellent platform for scouting and collecting new ideas from diverse sources, fostering innovative solutions, and developing partnerships in support of climate change adaptation.”

Past winners have gone on to address pressing needs in their home communities. Many have seen their project concepts replicated elsewhere. The Kanchan Arsenic Filter project, a 2003 winner sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been scaled up with compelling results. The project, first implemented in Nepal, has been expanded to Cambodia, Vietnam and Bangladesh. To date, over 7, 000 filter units have been distributed, serving 30,000 people in the region. Pump Aid, a 2006 winner of a $120,000 grant, went on to secure an additional $25 million to expand water and sanitation services to reach eight million people in Zimbabwe and Malawi over five years.

“I believe that Development Marketplace is a very good example of how to facilitate innovation – giving us tangible solutions on complex development issues like climate change adaptation,” said Ulla Toernaes, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation. “We have through our own experience seen how innovation has helped transform Denmark’s energy consumption patterns and created new business opportunities like wind energy.”

Speaking at the Development Marketplace award ceremony, Sanjay Pradhan, Vice President of the World Bank noted, “Among the World Bank's most important roles is scanning the horizon for innovative emerging ideas. Then our job is to identify, select and help scale up those innovative solutions. Development Marketplace winners over the years have proved the value of bringing fresh voices and ideas to the development discussion, and that it is possible to turn good ideas into tangible results.”

***

About the Development Marketplace
The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program that identifies and funds innovative, early-stage development projects with high potential for impact and replication. The program is supported by a consortium of partners including the World Bank.

This year’s contest gathered ideas around climate adaptation in developing countries placing special focus on indigenous communities dealing with climate risks, climate adaptation and disaster risk management, and managing climate risks in ways that provide multiple benefits—eliciting ideas to help people deal with the effects of climate change, especially those living in some of the earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems.

A rigorous assessment by 200 specialists from within and outside the World Bank Group narrowed the list of 1,700 proposals to 100 finalists who were invited to present their ideas in Washington, D.C. this week. Since 1998, the Development Marketplace has awarded more than $61 million to initiatives identified through global, regional, and country competitions.

For more information about the Development Marketplace visit: http://www.developmentmarketplace.org
Visit our blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/dmblog
Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/WorldBankDM

World Bank and Partners Award $4.8 Million to 26 Innovative Ideas to Save the Planet

2009-11-13T16:30:32.000Z

Contacts:

In Washington:

Edith Wilson, +1-202-473-1104

ewilson1@worldbank.org

Jonathan Daly, +1-202-458-2624

jdaly1@worldbank.org

WASHINGTON, November 13, 2009—Close to $5 million in grant money has been awarded to 26 innovative climate adaptation projects, through the 2009 Global Development Marketplace, a global competitive grant program to fund innovation in development.

This year’s contest—‘100 Ideas to Save the Planet’— set a simple challenge: come up with one idea from your own community to help save the planet and its people from the effects of climate change. This ninth annual Development Marketplace was co-sponsored by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the World Bank.

This year’s event, which ran from November 10-13, featured 100 finalists from 47 countries selected from over 1,700 project proposals. The winning concepts announced today will be implemented in East Asia and the Pacific (5), Europe and Central Asia (2), Latin America (13), the Middle East, North and Sub-Saharan Africa (4) and South Asia (2).

Winning ideas receive up to $200,000 in seed money, as well as guidance, and technical support as projects move into implementation. More than this though, all participants benefit from being able to hone their project design skills; by participating in knowledge and skills development sessions designed to help make them better development practitioners on their return home—win or lose.

Stand-out ideas from this year’s contest included:

· From Serbia: SZTR Sunce’s initiative to mitigate the effects of climate change induced bacterial blooms on commercial fishponds;

· From the Philippines: The University of the Philippines’ (Los Baños) ‘Bell and Bottle’ initiative – providing a low cost, high efficacy flood and landslide warning system;

· From Ecuador: International Network for Bamboo and Rattan’s idea to build elevated bamboo houses, essentially lifting communities in flood zones out of harm’s way

“Agriculture is where climate change, food security and poverty reduction intersect.” said Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). “The Development Marketplace is an excellent platform for scouting and collecting new ideas from diverse sources, fostering innovative solutions, and developing partnerships in support of climate change adaptation.”

-#-

About the Development Marketplace

The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program that identifies and funds innovative, early-stage development projects with high potential for impact and replication. The program is supported by a consortium of partners including the World Bank.

This year’s contest gathered ideas around climate adaptation in developing countries, placing special focus on indigenous communities dealing with climate risks, climate adaptation and disaster risk management, and managing climate risks in ways that provide multiple benefits—eliciting ideas to help people deal with the effects of climate change, especially those living in some of the earth’s most vulnerable ecosystems.

For more information about the Development Marketplace visit: http://www.developmentmarketplace.org

Visit our blog: http://blogs.worldbank.org/dmblog

Follow us on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/WorldBankDM

Visit our YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/DevMarketplace2009

China Shares Experiences on Financial Crisis Response with Middle-Income Countries

2009-11-13T02:10:53.000Z

Contact:

Li Li, tel: 86-10-5861 7850

Lli2@worldbank.org

BEIJING, November 13, 2009 - High-level policymakers from China, Brazil, the United States, Korea and Malaysia will join leading scholars and international development practitioners on November 13-15 in Beijing to exchange their experiences with fiscal stimulus packages. The International Seminar on Fiscal Stimulus Measures in Responding to Financial Crisis: Experiences and Going Forward is jointly sponsored by China’s Ministry of Finance and the World Bank and co-sponsored by Beijing Finance Bureau. Among those taking part in the seminar are Vice Finance Minister Ding Xuedong, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Justin Lin, Secretary of Finance of Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro State Joaquim Levy, U.S. Department of Treasury's Economic and Financial Emissary to China David Dollar, and representatives from the Korea Development Institute, along with some 120 mid to senior level Chinese finance officials.

The global economic slowdown which started in the second half of 2008 led to a drastic fall in demand for exports from emerging market economies, along with a drop in capital flows into those economies. The impact of these shocks has been especially severe in countries with high initial current account and fiscal deficits, or with highly indebted household, financial, and business sectors. The Chinese Government, for example, responded quickly with a 4 trillion RMB ($586billion USD) stimulus package. Now it is assessing how best to design and implement its crisis response to also support the country’s longer-term structural changes such as rebalancing its export-driven growth model.

With some countries beginning to emerge from the crisis, can a sustained recovery be expected, or is a double-dip recession on the way? This seminar examines the background and causes of the global financial crisis, how fiscal and financial policy can be used as instruments of macroeconomic control, and analyzes some of the fiscal programs that have been used to stimulate domestic demand, protect and improve people’s livelihoods, and encourage employment, and economic recovery.

Developing countries have been hardest hit by the crisis which has called into question many of the established approaches to development. New models will have to be constructed through debate, experimentation, and learning from those who have lived through successes and failures. “Sharing the knowledge that comes from experience is as important as providing finance,” says Justin Lin, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. “The World Bank is helping its client countries use exchanges like this one to learn from each other.” This event is part of a series of Development Debates designed by the World Bank Institute.

The project Second Program 135 Phase 2 Support has changed to Closed

2009-11-11T05:00:00.000Z

The project Second Program 135 Phase 2 Support has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Second Phase of the Second Program for Communes Facing Extreme Hardship in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas (Program 135) Program operation will support implementation of agreed policy and institutional actions based on the November 2008 mid-term review, to improve progress towards agreed outcomes for one of Vietnam's principal National Target Programs (NTP) for poverty reduction: the re-designed 'Program for Socio-Economic Development in Communes Facing Extreme Hardship in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas (2006-2010)', known more familiarly in Vietnam as 'Program 135, Phase two' (P135-2). P135-2 and the particular policy areas that are the focus of the series of operations are judged to represent the best available entry points to a wider, emerging agenda for systemic change in the way NTP in Vietnam are conceived and implemented. This reform agenda aims broadly to promote informed participation and civic engagement at community level in the Government's targeted public investment programs, as well as improved targeting, fiduciary management, transparency and monitoring and evaluation, as primary means to improve the results of these programs in many cases by transferring and mainstreaming approaches successfully piloted under smaller-scale, donor financed investment projects working in the same program areas.

World Bank Group President Zoellick Launches Global Urban Strategy at Inaugural Infrastructure Finance Summit

2009-11-11T03:45:00.000Z

Contacts:

World Bank

Tina Taheri in Singapore

HP: 98532470

ttaheri@worldbank.org

Elisabeth Mealey in Washington DC

emealey@worldbank.org

Ministry of Finance

Amra Iskander

Tel: 6332 8034

HP: 9021 5857

Amra_iskander@mof.gov.sg

Singapore Cooperation Enterprise

Anna Lee

Tel: 6838 0723

HP: 9681 4161

anna_lee@sce.gov.sg

Singapore, November 11, 2009— World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick today joins senior officials from the Government of Singapore to launch a new global urban strategy that will guide Bank advisory services and financing in the sector over the next decade.

The launch comes at the inaugural World Bank–Singapore Infrastructure Finance Summit, a landmark event organized by the World Bank Group, the Singapore Ministry of Finance, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, in association with the Financial Times. The Summit highlights the importance of urbanization as a defining phenomenon of this century. In the next two decades, cities are projected to expand by another two billion people, while 90 percent of urban population growth is expected to occur in the developing world. Developing countries need assistance in facing this historically unprecedented pace of urbanization, including anticipatory policies and financing for urban services.

“Urbanization is a vital phase of development, and if managed well, it can be a key driver of long-term economic growth in a country. Climate change, jobs, poverty, education, health, infrastructure – these are all development challenges closely intertwined with cities,” said Zoellick. “That’s why it is so important for the global community to help developing countries address the urbanization challenge. It is fitting to launch our Urban Strategy in Singapore, a world-recognized leader in urban planning.”

Countries that are able to harness the economic energy of urban growth are also able to reduce poverty and stimulate their economies. China and Vietnam are two examples of countries that invested heavily in regions with large populations. In Vietnam, urban poverty has been reduced by an impressive 11 percent a year over a 10-year period and in China, more than 50 percent of GDP is now generated in coastal cities representing only 20 percent of its territory.

The new Urban and Local Government Strategy aims to work with developing countries as they take advantage of the economic opportunities associated with rapid urbanization. The strategy offers a number of tools to help cities better manage urban growth, including:

- Planning and preparation. The strategy advocates careful planning and preparation, particularly in low-income, least-urbanized countries in Africa and South Asia where the risk of expanding slums and increased poverty is high if actions are not taken. The Bank’s Urbanization Review offers client countries the ability to examine demographic trends, impacts on land and housing affordability, mobility, and other key urban planning criteria. The Bank’s Urban Planning Audit helps client cities assess urbanization pressures and adjust regulations to enable more compact cities, which can also expand the housing supply and reduce infrastructure costs per household.

- Putting the Poor on the Map. The strategy calls for scaled-up approaches to urban poverty, which is growing across most developing regions, by applying GIS technologies to identify, map and better target the urban poor at a city-wide and national level. The Bank would support this work through vulnerability assessments, among other tools.

- Building sustainable cities. The strategy includes the Bank’s ECO Cities Program, which helps developing countries manage cities that are ecologically and environmentally sustainable. It also provides impetus to retrofit and redevelop existing areas. Using an ECO Cities Audit, cities can develop a baseline diagnosis of their current status and determine what steps need to be taken.

- Expanding reach and coverage. Urban population growth is greatest today in secondary cities. The Bank recognizes the growing diversity of its clients and the need to expand reach and coverage to more cities than ever before. The Bank will pursue “wholesaling” strategies on a larger scale to target an expanding number of cities by working with financial intermediaries and Municipal Funds for assistance to local governments.

The global launch of World Bank’s Urban Strategy from Singapore highlights the emergence of Singapore as a regional hub for knowledge on urban management. Building on Singapore’s extensive city management and public-private partnership experience, the first set of joint projects enabled by the World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub collaboration, were also announced at the Summit today.

Singapore's Minister for Finance, Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam said, “As a city-state, Singapore has learnt many lessons in urban management, often after years of experimentation. This is an exciting partnership with the World Bank, which will allow us to share what we have learnt with others at a time of massive urbanization in Asia. ”

The Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) and the World Bank will be signing Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with the respective Governments of Mongolia and Vietnam, and the Municipal Government of Chongqing, China. Under the arrangement SCE will provide Singapore expertise to assist these governments in developing a regulatory and financing framework to prepare public-private partnership (“PPP”) projects for private sector investment. The cooperation will focus on development of commercially viable infrastructure projects in water and environmental management, power, expressways and roads. World Bank and SCE will also jointly organize knowledge-sharing workshops to share Singapore’s public and private sector expertise, experiences and best practices in structuring PPP infrastructure projects.

The three projects are:

1) Advisory services to Chongqing Expressway Group Company Ltd, China in structuring a transaction to sell toll-roads to international investors.

2) Capacity-building in Southern Mongolia to support PPPs in developing mining infrastructure.

3) Advisory services in Vietnam for the development of the Financing Framework for PPPs, and assistance in identifying and preparing of pilot transactions.

It is anticipated that these projects will lead to more collaboration on downstream projects with the respective countries that will in turn open up more opportunities for Singapore’s private sector players to assist the countries as investors and advisors.

The World Bank–Singapore Infrastructure Finance Summit – the first of an annual series – is being organized under the auspices of the newly established World Bank-Singapore Urban Hub and comes amid a massive new infrastructure push in Asia. The Summit will feature a series of presentations from finance ministers, mayors and other central and local government policy makers, as well as senior executives representing private investors, advisors and practitioners, which will showcase innovative infrastructure financing structures and models being undertaken by central and local governments. The Summit establishes a pioneering platform for governments across Asia to present their initiatives to the market, and for the private sector to learn about new investment opportunities. It also highlights Singapore's emergence as a regional and international hub for infrastructure financing and expertise on urban development.

For more information on the World Bank’s new Urban and Local Government Strategy, please visit http://www.wburbanstrategy.org/urbanstrategy.

For more information about the World Bank in Singapore, please visit www.worldbank.org/sg.

PHILIPPINES: Best Practices in Good Governance Shine in 3-day Conference

2009-11-11T02:21:43.000Z

MANILA, November 11, 2009—Good governance is a key factor in effective public service delivery, empowering poor and disadvantaged groups, hammering down the costs of goods and services that government buys, sustaining investments, and improving the quality of economic growth. These were the major learnings during a three-day conference led by the World Bank, the Asian Institute of Management – Center for Development Management, and the Ateneo School of Government at the AIM last November 4-6.

The conference, called Panibagong Paraan for Good Governance 2009 (New and Innovative Ways in Good Governance), puts a spotlight on how local government officials have successfully empowered their constituents, partnered with civil society organizations for better public service delivery and protection of disadvantaged groups, enhanced transparency and social accountability, and how all these were used to make growth work for the poor. This year’s Panibagong Paraan focused on sharing knowledge instead of project grant competitions as in previous years.

Among the speakers were Ramon Magsaysay awardee and Naga Mayor Jesse Robredo, World Bank Country Director Bert Hofman, former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito, and AIM Associate Dean of Center for Development Management Juan Miguel Luz. Local government officials from places far from Manila like Mayor Florante Gerdan of Nueva Vizcaya, Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Raul Banias, and Mayor Pedro Acharon of General Santos were some of the resource persons in the panel discussions.

In his talk, Mayor Robredo explained how good governance starts with the local chief executive, but is made potent with the participation of civil society, and each individual in every locality.

“Leadership should demonstrate that if you want to have a culture of excellence, you should be excellent yourself. If you want a culture of honesty, you should be honest yourself,” said Mayor Robredo.

Naga City is one of the models for good governance in the country, earning awards for projects, one of which is iGovernance where the city hall used the Internet to enhance transparency. For example, all prices of goods bought by the local government in Naga city are posted in its website.

Other good governance models also shone during the conference, like Mayor Prudencio Maxino’s Kalahi program in Mulanay, Quezon, which empowers barangays to craft their own development agenda, and Mayor Florante Gerdan’s strategy to professionalize the local bureaucracy by focusing on performance. Local chief executives present during the conference said good governance worked for them because it ensured their continuity even without much campaign efforts.

“The best campaign strategy is delivering public services well and empowering communities,” said Mayor Maxino.

The World Bank’s network of academic and research institutions called Knowledge for Development Centers (KDC), which participated in the event, believes that the rich experiences and variety of competencies of resource persons and speakers brought forward burning issues in good governance today.

“We know that there are great governance achievements out there at the local level. We need to bring out these examples, learn from them, and support further reforms,” said Mr. Hofman.

During the conference, the World Bank also discussed selected development topics, under the broader theme of its Country Assistance Strategy, "Making Growth Work for the Poor." These topics will be included in a series of Discussion Notes which are intended to serve as vehicles for stirring and informing policy discussions and dialogue as the next Medium-Term Philippines Development Plan is developed.

“What we need is to work on the quality of growth,” said Mr. Habito.

Good governance in both the national and local level is seen as an effective inoculation against poverty and poor investment climate, but more change leaders are needed to replicate these stories of good governance across the country.

“Change leaders are always, without exception, those who are ethical and transparent. To them, good governance is not a statement without legs and feet. Leaders who are serious about good governance are the kinds of leaders that will bring about transformation in our country,” said AIM President Dr. Edilberto de Jesus.

“In fighting poverty, it is not enough that we put the economy on a growth train or expand trade and industry. Governance is as much a part of the battle against poverty and inequality as roads and bridges,” Ateneo School of Government Dean Tony La Viña said.

The KDC is a knowledge-sharing partnership between the World Bank and knowledge institutions in the country. Recently, it organized a series of both online and face-to-face forums for youth all over the country, bringing to them champions of good governance through a Caravan for Good Governance.

The project ARMM Social Fund Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-10T05:00:00.000Z

The project ARMM Social Fund Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Transfer fees could stand a cut back

2009-11-10T04:16:47.000Z

First appeared in the Australian Financial Review

By Dr. Manjula Luthria, Senior Regional Economist for the Pacific Islands, World Bank

10 November 2009—After the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa and Tonga on September 30, Australian and New Zealand banks stepped in to assist, waiving the substantial fees on sending money back to these countries throughout the month of October.

Samoans and Tongans living abroad were first to help their families cope with the tragedy. It is good news that all of the money intended for the needy actually made it there instead of a chunk being lost to money transfer operators in fees. But what happens when Samoa and Tonga are no longer in the media spotlight?

While the reprieve on transaction fees was useful in time of emergency, a more permanent solution is needed to lower the costs of money transfers. Currently, at least $100 million annually that is intended to go to the poor is lost in transfer fees. Fees on money transfers out of Australia to the Pacific are the highest in the world, ranging from 15-40 percent of the amount sent.

Pacific islanders rely on remittances as much as they do on tourism or aid, with remittances comprising over 25 percent of total GDP in countries like Samoa or Tonga. In poor countries without a Centrelink, these funds are a household’s social safety net.

Recent evidence from New Zealand has shown how an amendment to domestic financial regulations lowered money transfer fees significantly for our South Pacific neighbours.

Australia, through the leadership of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), should consider a similar amendment now. Australia is one of three major remittance source countries for the Pacific, and Australian banks have the most extensive financial infrastructure across the Islands.

Through a number of public-private roundtables, the World Bank found the introduction of enabling financial regulation coupled with greater competition from the ATM/EFTPOS networks utilised by banks, could significantly bring down money transfer costs.

The majority of Pacific islanders don’t have access to the level of identification demanded by global financial regulators. Without this it is impossible to open a bank account. New Zealand regulators overcame this exclusion by relaxing the identification requirements necessary to open a bank account overseas.

Early signals from the Financial Action Task Force indicate no adverse commentary on New Zealand’s amended financial regulations. That’s because regulation that helps enlarge the legitimate financial sector is a desirable objective for oversight agencies.

The amended regulation provided the impetus for Westpac New Zealand to launch a remittance product targeting Pacific communities. This innovative product has reduced the cost of transfer to under five percent and put pressure on the competition to revise their fee structures downwards.

Long after the fee waiver ends, Pacific Island communities in Australia will continue to send money home to support their loved ones. High fees on transfers take away hard-earned income that supports food, housing, health and education in the Islands. Why not empower them to provide additional assistance to those most in need?

Now is the time for AUSTRAC to seize an opportunity that complements Australia’s development objectives in the region.

The project Western Indonesia National Roads Improvement Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-11-07T05:00:00.000Z

The project Western Indonesia National Roads Improvement Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Emergency National Workfare Project has changed to Dropped

2009-11-06T05:00:00.000Z

The project Emergency National Workfare Project has changed to Dropped. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

Africa to Receive $1.1 billion in New Financing for Climate Action

2009-11-05T17:26:11.000Z

Contacts
In Barcelona: Robert Bisset +1 202 415 9646
rbisset@worldbank.org
In Washington: Roger Morier (202) 473-5675
rmorier@worldbank.org
Jeff Brez (202) 458-7628
jbrez@worldbank.org

Barcelona, 5 November, 2009— African efforts to invest in clean energy and prepare for the devastating consequences of climate change have received a boost with six countries set to receive $1.1 billion in new financing for climate action. From solar water heaters to wind power development and development policy planning, a range of new, scalable investments were given the green light at Trustee meetings of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) in Washington.

Mozambique, Niger and Zambia will each receive up to $50-70 million in additional resources to help transform their economies through climate resilience. While, Morocco and South Africa will join Egypt in receiving very low-interest loans for $150 million, $500 million, and $300 million respectively, to strengthen their investments in clean energy in support of national priorities for low carbon development.

“The CIF support for Africa is coming at a critical time. Climate change has the potential to turn back the clock on hard won development gains across the continent,” said Katherine Sierra, Vice President of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. “CIF financing is teaching us how to work together with governments, civil society and the private sector to make truly transformational investments a reality. Each CIF dollar so far is leveraging an additional ten dollars in private and public investments,”she said.

The Climate Investment Funds are a unique pair of financing instruments designed to test what can be achieved to initiate transformational change towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development through scaled-up financing channeled through the Multilateral Development Banks. The two funds are the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), financing scaled up demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies for significant greenhouse gas reductions within country investment plans; and the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), financing targeted programs in developing countries to pilot new climate or sectoral approaches with scaling-up potential.

In Africa, where access to energy is critical for economic growth and, therefore, poverty alleviation, the challenge is to help countries obtain the energy they need, without aggravating climate change.

South Africa will receive $500 million from the CTF to support its goals of generating four percent of the country’s electricity needs from renewable energy by 2013, improving energy efficiency by 12 percent by 2015 and providing 1 million households with solar water heating over the next five years. In support of the government’s strategies, the CTF financing will focus on scaling up grid-connected solar thermal power, utility-scale wind power development, solar water heaters, and demand-side energy efficiency. It is expected that the new investments will mobilize additional financing of about 1$ billion from bilateral and multilateral funders, as well as the private sector.

Morocco will receive $150 million from the CTF to help establish a national “Fond de Developpement de l’Energie (FDE - Energy Development Fund), a funding mechanism which will serve as a central pillar of the government’s strategy to enhance energy security and pursue low-carbon growth. With CTF support, it is expected that the FDE will mobilize additional financing in the range of $1.5 - 2 billion to help meet the country’s goals, including a 600% increase in wind power and a 15% reduction in energy use in buildings, industry, and transport by 2020.

Egypt will use the $300 million from the CTF to support relevant sector development policies and strategies, such as the Power Sector Strategy and Greater Cairo Urban Transport Strategy. In particular, the financing, endorsed by the CTF Trust Fund Committee earlier this year, will be used to develop wind power and low carbon urban transport systems.

Mozambique, Niger and Zambia all share dramatic risks in potential loss of land, life and livelihoods as a result of climate change. They will each receive up to $50-70 million in grants and/or very low interest loans to help integrate climate risk and resilience into their core development planning. They have been selected as pilot countries for the SCF’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), which is still in early stages of implementation. Each country has demonstrated both the urgent need for resilience strategies and the commitment to rigorously integrate such strategies into their overall poverty reduction and development plans, including through national adaptation program of actions.

In Africa, the African Development Bank and the World Bank Group jointly implement the CIF, in cooperation with governments, United Nations and other partners.

Agreed in 2008, donor countries have pledged over US$6 billion to the CIF. The CTF and SCF trust fund committees have equal representation from developed and developing countries. Recognizing the imperative of climate change deliberations underway in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the CIF were designed as an interim measure to strengthen the global knowledge base for low-carbon and climate-resilient growth solutions.

The CIF, implemented jointly by the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation, and World Bank, is comprised of the CTF to provide scaled up financing for the demonstration, deployment and transfer of low carbon technologies that have a significant potential for long-term greenhouse gas emissions savings; and the SCF, a suite of three targeted programs to pilot new approaches to climate action, each with potential for scaled up, transformational action: the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), the Forest Investment Program (FIP) and the Program for Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries (SREP).

For more information, please visit www.climateinvestmentfunds.org

Domestic Demand in China Helps Fuel the Region's Resurgence but Some Countries Still Struggling, Says World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Update

2009-11-04T04:00:00.000Z

Contacts:
In Washington, DC:
Elisabeth Mealey +1 (202) 458-4475
emealey@worldbank.org
Mohamad Al-Arief +1 (202) 352-4745
malarief@worldbank.org

Washington, DC, November 3, 2009 -- The economic rebound in East Asia and the Pacific has been surprisingly swift and very welcome but take China out of the equation and the regional picture is less rosy, says the World Bank's half-yearly assessment of the economic health of the East Asia and Pacific region.

The latest East Asia and Pacific Update, titled Transforming the Rebound into Recovery, says large and timely fiscal stimulus spending in most East Asian and Pacific countries – led by China and Korea – along with a powerful process of inventory restocking now underway, have driven the rebound in the region and contributed significantly to confidence in a global pick-up.

Developments in the East Asia & Pacific region remain strongly influenced by China, where the projected increase in GDP in 2009 will offset three quarters of the decline in the GDPs of the U.S., the Eurozone and Japan. But despite Indonesia and Vietnam performing well, developing East Asia¹ excluding China is projected to grow at around 1 percent in 2009 -- more slowly than South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa, and only slightly stronger than Sub-Saharan Africa. Some countries remain especially hard hit – GDP is contracting in Cambodia, Malaysia and Thailand and is barely growing in Mongolia and some of the Pacific Islands, the report says.

As enterprises, both formal and informal, adjusted to weaker demand earlier in the year, workers across the region have been impacted in different ways. Enterprises cut workers’ hours, eliminated extra shifts, let temporary or contract workers go, or lowered wages – but some of these measures are now being reversed. Relatively few full-time employees have been laid off as companies have tried to limit recruitment and training costs when demand picks up. Workers who have been let go have typically found jobs in services and agriculture, often in the informal sector at lower pay and in more challenging working conditions. In some countries, fiscal stimulus packages have supported the creation of temporary public employment.

The report estimates that 14 million people who would have emerged from $2-a-day poverty if the region’s economies had kept growing at pre-crisis levels, will remain in poverty in 2010.

However, with projected growth of 8.4 percent in China this year and the country’s domestic demand racing ahead of global demand, countries exporting consumer durables, electronic components and raw materials to China have felt the positive flow-on effects. As a result, the World Bank is projecting growth of 6.7 percent in 2009 for developing East Asia and the Pacific and 7.8 percent next year.
As officials, ministers and heads of state from the 21 member countries of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum head to Singapore later this week, the World Bank’s chief economist for the East Asia & Pacific region, Vikram Nehru warned that risks to a sustainable recovery remain.

“Some governments in the region will have the fiscal space to sustain fiscal stimulus until recovery is on a firmer footing,” he said. “The time to begin removing monetary accommodation may come earlier however, especially given concerns about asset price bubbles.”

He said looking beyond 2009, countries in the region can still grow rapidly even if growth in the advanced economies is slow. To take advantage of the growth potential ahead, countries need to resist protectionism, remain open and become more, not less integrated with the regional and global economies.

“Moving up the value-added chain in global and regional production networks should lead to further productivity gains and strong growth, and allow for new technologies and innovation to spread more widely through the region’s economies,” Nehru said.

The report’s lead author Ivailo Izvorski said the crisis has helped governments realize that more growth can be extracted from domestic demand if incentives that have limited expansion in private consumption and services are tackled.

“Rebalancing growth need not be presented as a choice between relying on global markets or on domestic markets,” Izvorski said. “It can be about extracting more growth from domestic demand as a complement to increasing integration within the region and the global economy. Facilitating the development of the service sector, addressing infrastructure bottlenecks, and boosting the quality of education need to be accompanied by developing better targeted and better funded social protection systems.

“Together with education and health, improved social protection systems will help reduce precautionary saving, promote domestic cohesion at a time of rapid regional and global integration, and enable countries to reap the full benefits from agglomeration economies, all of which are key to long-term economic success.”

___________________________________________________________________

¹ Developing East Asia includes China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea and the island economies of the Pacific.

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The East Asia and Pacific Update is the World Bank’s comprehensive review of the region’s economies. It is published twice yearly and is available on our website at http://www.worldbank.org/eapupdate

China’s Economic Growth is Likely to Remain Robust, but the Costs of Keeping Policy Expansionary Increase Over Time, Says World Bank

2009-11-04T04:00:00.000Z

Contacts:

Li Li in Beijing

86-10-5861 7850

Lli2@worldbank.org

Lester Dally in Washington

Ldally@worldbank.org

Mohamad Al-Arief in Singapore

malarief@worldbank.org

BEIJING, November 4, 2009 – Large fiscal and monetary stimulus has supported a recovery in China’s economy, according to the World Bank’s latest China Quarterly Update released today.

The Update, a regular assessment of the Chinese economy, finds that falling exports amidst the global recession have been a major drag on growth. Nonetheless, real GDP growth rose to 8.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter on the back of the stimulus.

Most of the stimulus has shown up in infrastructure-oriented government-led investment. But some has been consumption-oriented and domestic demand growth has been broad based. Resurgent housing sales have started to feed through to construction activity. Investment in manufacturing is affected by spare capacity, but consumption has held up well.

The strong domestic demand has buoyed import volumes and the current account surplus may fall to 5.5 percent of GDP this year even with import prices down sharply. The downturn has clearly affected the labor market, but the impact has been smaller than expected and the trough may have been past.

“On the back of a larger than expected monetary stimulus, China is on track to meet the target of 8 percent GDP growth this year,” said Ardo Hansson, Lead Economist for China. “We project GDP growth of 8.4 percent. Growth is likely to remain robust in 2010, but the composition will change.”

The global recovery is likely to be slow and subject to risk. Nonetheless, China’s export growth is likely to resume, helped by strong fundamental competitiveness and the recent depreciation of the nominal effective exchange rate, and net exports are likely to stop being a drag on growth. Real estate investment is also bound to be stronger. However, the growth impact of the government stimulus is set to decline sharply next year and investment in parts of manufacturing is likely to remain under pressure from spare capacity in China and abroad. This spare capacity is also expected to keep inflation pressures low. With exports and imports projected to grow at broadly the same pace next year and the terms of trade likely to deteriorate, the current account surplus may edge down further.

Turning to economic policies, “the costs and risks of sustaining the current expansionary policy stance will increase over time,” said Louis Kuijs, Senior Economist and main author of the Update. “In our view, macroeconomic conditions in the real economy do not yet call for a major tightening. However, risks of asset price bubbles and misallocation of resources in the face of abundant liquidity are real and the overall monetary stance will have to be tightened eventually.”

On the fiscal stance, the World Bank thinks that, given its economic projections, in 2010 an unchanged or only slightly higher fiscal deficit, compared to 2009, would fit best but flexibility is important and this includes allowing the automatic stabilizers to work, this year and in 2010.

The Update concludes that, in the medium term, China’s recovery can only be sustained by successful rebalancing of the economy. Rebalancing and getting more growth out of the domestic economy call for more emphasis on consumption and services and less on investment and industry. Following on earlier initiatives, some further steps have been taken in recent months to rebalance and boost domestic demand, including increasing the presence of the government in health, education, and social safety; improving access to finance and SME development; and mitigating resource use and environmental damage. These are useful steps, but more policy measures will be needed to rebalance growth in China, given the strong underlying momentum of the traditional pattern. Structural reforms to unleash more growth and competition in the service sector and stimulate more successful, permanent migration would be particularly welcome.

-#-

To read the full report and summary, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/china

And to read Louis Kuijs’ blog on the Chinese economy, go to: http://eapblog.worldbank.org/

World Bank Promoting Opportunities for People Throughout Solomon

2009-11-04T03:35:34.000Z

Contacts:
Hamish Wyatt (+677 21444)
hwyatt@worldbank.org

Honiara, 30 October- "The World Bank Group is committed to supporting the creation of opportunities in Solomon Islands. This is being done by the promotion of reforms to build up infrastructure networks, improve social indicators, and encourage private sector led growth and job creation," said World Bank Managing Director Juan Jose Daboub during a visit to Solomon Islands.

Daboub completed a two day visit to Solomon Islands on Sunday. He is the most senior World Bank official to have visited Solomon Islands.

During his visit, Daboub met with Prime Minister Derek Sikua, Minister of Finance Snyder Rini, Governor of the Central Bank Denton Rarawa, Minister of Planning Steve Abana, Minister of Mines and Energy David Day Pacha, RAMSI Special Coordinator Graeme Wilson, and members of civil society, parliament and the private sector. Mr. Daboub also visited projects supported by the World Bank Group.

In his visit to the rural village of Dala in Malaita, Mr. Daboub, joined by Minister Steve Abana, and Malaitan Premier Richard Irosaea, had the opportunity to see first hand the impact Rural Development Program is having on the lives of the people.

"Rural Development Programs empower rural communities and individuals to make their own choices. We are proud to be joining forces with government and other donors in this important effort," said Daboub.

The Rural Development Program, jointly funded by the World Bank, the European Commission and the Australian Government and implemented by the Ministry for Development Planning, is designed to work with farmers to improve their productivity and capacity to market their produce; work with communities to build and maintain rural infrastructure such as roads, schools and clinics; and encourage entrepreneurship by providing small loans to rural business.

"Community participation and ownership in these types of projects provides the best platform for resolving challenging problems and potential for further expansion and coverage. I was happy to see how the local and provincial leaders are working together with the communities to identify priority needs, contribute to implementation and produce results, so that this generation and the next have better opportunities for the future," said Daboub.

The construction of nurses’ accommodation alongside the health clinic in Dala will allow a registered nurse to be posted to the village clinic. This will improve the quality of medical care provided to approximately 10,000 people in the region serviced by the clinic.

In a visit to the Goldridge Mine in Guadalcanal, Daboub highlighted the vital role of private investment to generate growth and jobs in Solomon Islands.

"The World Bank Group’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, has a potential $30 million financing available for private investors to re-establish production at the Goldridge mine, in a productive, socially and environmentally sustainable way," said Daboub. "This can help Solomon Islands to encourage new sources of growth and jobs creation; as logging slows, investment to promote sustainable growth in industries such as mining, fishing, and tourism will be critical to provide jobs and incomes."

Daboub also expressed support for the Government’s interest in signing up to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and highlighted the importance of transparent and responsible management of mining revenues.

###

Thailand’s Economy Bouncing Back from the Crisis, World Bank Says

2009-11-04T02:39:44.000Z

Contacts
Frederico Gil Sander
(+66-2) 686-8330
fgilsander@worldbank.org

Kirida Bhaopichitr
(+66-2) 686-8332
kbhaopichitr@worldbank.org

BANGKOK, Nov. 4, 2009 – The World Bank said Wednesday that the Thai economy has begun to bounce back from the recent crisis. However, it also cautioned that the country may not return to high growth in the near term because it is still dependent on the economies of Europe, Japan, and the U.S. which are healing slowly.

To ensure that future growth would be more balanced and sustainable, the government should invest in both "hardware" (infrastructure) and "software" (education reform, services sector competitiveness) to stimulate private investment, and create sustainable social safety nets. These could cushion the impact of future crises and remove constraints to domestic consumption, the World Bank recommended in its latest review of the Thai economy.

The Bank said its forecast for Thailand’s 2009 gross domestic product would remain at the -2.7 percent level that it had predicted in April. Still, this year’s contraction would be Thailand’s first since 1998.

“People were pessimistic early on and had expected the Thai economy to contract by much more than 2.7 percent in 2009,” said Frederico Gil Sander, an economist at the World Bank in Bangkok. “But we’re now optimistic about the second half of 2009.”

However, it would be premature to celebrate. In the November 2009 issue of Thailand Economic Monitor, the Bank said there remained a number of medium-term issues weighing on Thailand’s growth prospects, even though it predicted that the country’s GDP would grow 3.5 percent in 2010.

For more detail on the Bank's forecast, click here (pdf 869 KB).

Signs of Rebound in Manufacturing

The contraction in Thailand’s GDP this year is due primarily to shrinking demand for Thai exports during the global economic downturn. Manufacturing, which represents 40 percent of real GDP, accounted for nearly two-third of the contraction during the crisis.

However, the rebound in the Chinese economy and recent improvements in demand from some of the more advanced economies are helping to bolster exports from East Asia. In Thailand, manufacturing activity has picked up during the second half of the year as exports recover and inventories are rebuilt, helping to offset the sharp decline during the first half. Having earlier predicted that exports would contract 15.9 percent in 2009, the World Bank now forecasts that the decline will be 13.6 percent.

Real wages and employment have also started to recover along with the resurgence in manufacturing. Both unemployment and underemployment have started to decline since May this year. These had some positive impact on household consumption.

The Thai government’s first fiscal stimulus program – or SP1 – probably had some positive effects on consumer spending as well. The SP1 included distribution of one-time cash assistance to middle-income workers and a small monthly cash supplement to senior citizens.

“Without SP1, we think that household consumption would have declined more sharply,” Gil Sander said. The World Bank predicted that private consumption would decline only marginally, by 1.1 percent in 2009, from a 2.2 percent growth year-on-year in 2008.

Recovery Underway, But Uncertainty Remains

Although data suggest that Thailand may have seen the worst of the crisis, its growth prospects in the immediate future remain uncertain. For instance, the economies of Thailand’s major trading partners – Europe, Japan and the United States – are expected to remain sluggish over the next 2-3 years. As a result, the World Bank does not expect Thailand to return to its potential growth rate until 2013, citing the country’s dependence on export revenues.

The government has also been accumulating debt to fund programs aimed at stimulating the economy. “It will be important for the government to carefully manage rising public debt so that it won’t impede economic stability and long-term growth,” said Kirida Bhaopichitr, the World Bank’s Senior Economist in Bangkok.

The crisis has highlighted the need for moving away from the export-driven growth strategy that had earlier steered the Thai economy through successive decades of high growth. Rebalancing of growth in Thailand and its East Asian neighbors towards higher levels of consumption would lead to domestic and regional demand emerging as a source of economic growth. Such a coordinated structural transition, however, is likely to take time.

The World Bank recommended that the government play a catalytic role in encouraging private investment and domestic consumption through measures such as education reform, regional trade integration and by increasing public investment in infrastructure. This would help stimulate private investment, create more jobs, and therefore increase consumer spending in the long run.

In particular, a more reliable social safety net could over time lead to greater social security, which would allow people to reduce savings for contingencies and spend more on regular consumption. Providing incentives for the service sector to produce more value-added could also boost economic productivity in an area of relative strength, the World Bank said.

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Thailand Economic Monitor is the World Bank's bi-annual review of the Thai economy

The full report will be available for download shortly

The project Geothermal Clean Energy Investment Project is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-31T04:00:00.000Z

The project Geothermal Clean Energy Investment Project is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project HaJia Railway is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-31T04:00:00.000Z

The project HaJia Railway is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Papuan Women's Empowerment Project (PAWE is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-31T04:00:00.000Z

The project Papuan Women's Empowerment Project (PAWE is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Piloting Community Approaches in Conflict Situation in Three Southernmost Provinces in Thailand has changed to Closed

2009-10-30T04:00:00.000Z

The project Piloting Community Approaches in Conflict Situation in Three Southernmost Provinces in Thailand has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Vietnam Poverty Reduction Support Credit 8 has changed to Closed

2009-10-29T04:00:00.000Z

The project Vietnam Poverty Reduction Support Credit 8 has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Eighth Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC 8) Program for Vietnam is designed to assist the government to implement its Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2006-2010.' It aims to support all four pillars of the SEDP, namely, fostering business development, ensuring social inclusion, managing natural resources, and strengthening governance. The credit is the third in a programmatic series of five annual single-tranche operations (PRSCs 6-10). This series follows the first cycle of five operations (PRSCs 1-5). The PRSCs are well-suited to support the implementation of the SEDP, as the cross-cutting nature of the policy dialogue conducted through PRSCs encourages taking a holistic view of the reform agenda, and promotes collaboration among line ministries and government agencies. The annual programming is demanding, but provides the government with predictability for planning purposes, and also helps keep the reform momentum. The PRSCs are designed to be forward-looking. The negotiation of each PRSC operation includes reaching an agreement on a list of policy measures that will, in principle, be supported by the following operation. These policy measures, or 'triggers,' are grounded in the SEDP 2006-2010 as well as other key documents and strategies, and are considered to have strategic importance to attain the SEDP objectives. Triggers are very limited in number. They are not conditions but rather a framework to guide the policy dialogue in the subsequent operation. It is understood that some triggers may not be fully met while others may be exceeded. In addition to the 'triggers,' the policy dialogue conducted under PRSCs addresses a broader set of issues, articulated as 'benchmarks.' These benchmarks are reported to convey the scope of the reforms being implemented. They are not part of the legal agreement, although they strengthen the implementation of the SEDP. The relatively large number of benchmarks is justified by the committed participation in the PRSC process of close to two dozen government ministries and agencies and more than a dozen donors.

The project Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project has changed to Closed

2009-10-29T04:00:00.000Z

The project Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project development objective of the Gansu and Xinjiang Pastoral Development Project for China is to promote sustainable natural resource management by establishing improved livestock production and marketing systems that would increase the income of herders and farmers in the project areas. The project would empower farmer and herder households in project areas to better manage their grassland resources and improve the forage and feed production on arable lands. More efficient and quality focused livestock production would increase the farmers and herders incomes and generate marketable surplus to improve living standards. Developing efficient livestock marketing systems in the project counties would also increase the efficiency of the whole livestock production system and contribute raising the living standards of farmers and herders. The global environmental objective of the project is to maintain and nurture natural grassland ecosystems to enhance global environmental benefits. More specifically, the project aims to mitigate land degradation, conserve globally important biodiversity, and enhance carbon sequestration, through promotion of integrated ecosystem management in the grassland, desert, and forest ecosystems of the Qilian Shan, Tian Shan, and Altaishan mountain ranges in Western China. The global environmental objective would be achieved by implementing community based grassland management in selected project areas with high global biodiversity values; providing incremental investments for implementing grassland management plans; and carrying out monitoring of these grasslands' habitats. The project has five components: (1) Grassland Management and Forage Improvement; (2) Livestock Production Improvement; (3) Market Systems Development; (4) Applied Research, Training, and Extension; and (5) Project Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation. The project will finance works, equipment, materials, Technical Assistance (TA) and training. Communities will contribute their labor. This constitutes the Baseline Scenario. The GEF Alternative builds on the Baseline Scenario b y conserving key mountain grassland eco-systems and their biodiversity and carbon storage capacity in selected sites of global environmental significance. Four of the five project components have incremental GEF financed activities that will: (a) conserve global grassland values and native livestock agro-biodiversity; (b) support applied research, training and extension for multiplication of indigenous grassland species for rehabilitation of degraded grasslands and the protection of native sheep and yak; and (c) establish integrated grassland management monitoring processes at provincial, county and townships levels.

The project Indonesia Sixth Development Policy Loan has changed to Closed

2009-10-23T04:00:00.000Z

The project Indonesia Sixth Development Policy Loan has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The overall goal of the Sixth Development Policy Loan (DPL 6) program is to help the Government of Indonesia (GoI) to achieve its medium-term growth and poverty reduction objectives. The DPL 6 supports the GoI's reform efforts in: i) improving the investment climate through strengthened investment service institutions and regulations, enhanced trade facilitation as well as reduced tax burden and improved tax administration; ii) strengthening public financial management through improved results orientation in the budget process, streamlined budget execution and improved cash management as well as improved public procurement systems; iii) enhancing poverty reduction and improving service delivery efforts through increased funding for poverty programs, improved targeting of poverty programs and improved poverty measurement. According to the FY09-FY12 Country Partnership Strategy (CPS), the DPL series shall continue to be at the center of the World Bank Group (WBG) support in strengthening Indonesia's central Government institutions and systems, a key cross-sectoral engagement theme under the CPS.

The project Third Infrastructure Development Policy Loan has changed to Closed

2009-10-23T04:00:00.000Z

The project Third Infrastructure Development Policy Loan has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The Third Infrastructure Development Policy Loan Program for Indonesia is intended to: (i) increase the quantity and efficiency of central Government spending on infrastructure through improved public service obligation (subsidy) policy, and expenditure planning and budgeting; (ii) improve sub-national infrastructure services through increased sub-national government spending and an improved incentives framework; (iii)in crease private investment in infrastructure through the establishment of a fiscally sound, credible and transparent Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework; and (iv) enhance governance for infrastructure through improved land acquisition, environmental protection, and procurement and audit processes within the Ministry of Public Works. The current operation focuses on the most important infrastructure reform achievements of 2009,'prior actions' which are critical for the objectives of the program: 1) the Government is developing a scheme of output-based grants to sub-national governments when evidence is provided of new working piped water connections for poor households; 2) the level of infrastructure investment by key Government ministries has been substantially increased, providing an important foundation for higher economic growth; 3) the Government has prepared revisions to Perpres 67, the law which governs infrastructure PPPs, extending its operation to PPPs of sub-national governments; 4) the Government i s improving the accuracy and transparency of electricity subsidy forecasts, providing greater impetus towards ultimately reducing the subsidy; 5) the Government is establishing new institutions to improve the availability of long-term financing for infrastructure PPPs; 6) recent legal reforms are now facilitating land acquisition for infrastructure projects; and 7) the Ministry of Public Works Director General of Highways (Bina Marga) has established an internal taskforce to provide advice and assistance to the procurement committees that are responsible for individual procurement processes.

The project Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Loan III has changed to Closed

2009-10-19T04:00:00.000Z

The project Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Loan III has changed to Closed. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The objectives of the Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in Irrigated Agriculture Project in China of are : to enhance adaptation to climate change in agriculture and irrigation water management practices through awareness-raising, institutional and capacity strengthening, and demonstration activities in the Huang-Huai-Hai Basin (3H Basin). This will help mainstream climate change adaptation measures, techniques, and activities into the national Comprehensive Agricultural Development (CAD) Program which is China's largest national investment program in irrigated agriculture. There are three components to the project. The first component is the identification and prioritization of adaptation options. The second component is the demonstration and implementation of adaptation measures. The purpose of this component is to introduce, demonstrate and implement the specific adaptation measures in selected demonstration areas, and adjust and integrate appropriate adaptation measures into the implementation of the Third Irrigated Agriculture Intensification Project (IAIL3), in order to reduce vulnerability to climate change in the 3H Basin. Finally, the third component is the mainstreaming adaptation into national CAD program and institutional strengthening. The component will aim at integrating and mainstreaming climate change adaptation into the national CAD program, including a series of capacity building, technical assistance, knowledge sharing, public awareness activities, and preparation of a national climate change adaptation plan for CAD by State Office of Comprehensive Agricultural Development (SOCAD), with the close cooperation of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) national climate change adaptation offices.

The project GEF Project: Lao Rural Electrification APL Program Phase II is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-16T04:00:00.000Z

The project GEF Project: Lao Rural Electrification APL Program Phase II is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database

The project Rural Electrification Phase II Project of the Rural Electrification (APL) Program is now in the pipeline.

2009-10-16T04:00:00.000Z

The project Rural Electrification Phase II Project of the Rural Electrification (APL) Program is now in the pipeline. To see more information, see the project information in the World Bank project database