FY 97 lending to East Asia.Hong Kong will come under the international spotlight again as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund hold annual meetings there from September 23 to 25.
More than 14,000 people from 180 countries are expected to attend the meetings at the Hong Kong Trade and Convention Centre, site of the June 30-July 1 handover ceremonies.
Among those attending the meetings will be 300 finance ministers and central bank governors, 4,000 government officials, 5,000 senior executives and 2,000 journalists.
Major topics to be discussed include the Thai economic crisis and the creation of an international monitoring system for banking standards. The Basle Committee on Banking, a forum for central bankers from developed economies, will present a 25-point proposal for banking standards. The IMF is expected to monitor government institutions that supervise banks if the proposal are accepted.
Numerous related events will take place before the meeting. Senior corporate executives and government officials will be able to attend any of the 40 seminars from September 20 to 22. The seminars, titled Asia and the World: Capital, Competitiveness and Community, will discuss topics, such as finance and capital market infrastructure, governance and sustained development, and regional and national opportunities. The IMF is also holding a one-day seminar on September 19 on Asia and the IMF. The seminar will lay out IMF approaches to macroeconomic policy, perspectives on the Asian growth 'miracle' and challenges facing Asia. It is open to registered participants at the annual meeting.
Hong Kong has allocated a budget of HK$485 million (about US$62.7 million) for the meeting. As of mid-August, corporate sponsors had donated HK$70 million.
The World Bank provides market-rate loans to developing nations. It also provides low-cost loans to nations suffering extreme poverty. New lending to developing countries during the 1996-97 fiscal year totalled US$19.1 billion, up from US$18.3 billion the year before.
East Asia and the Pacific region received US$4.9 billion in 1996-97 while South Asia received US$2 billion.
The World Bank's largest customer is China, which received US$2.8 billion for 11 projects, followed by the Russian Federation with US$1.7 billion and India with US$1.5 billion.
All World Bank-funded projects are evaluated on their completion to determine whether they have achieved their goals. Projects in East Asia had a high success rate of more than 90% in 1996, compared with 66% last year.
FY 97 lending to China (US$ millions)
Infrastructure-alleviating bottlenecks to growth
Hunan/Guang National Highway II $400
Xinjiang Highways II $300
Tuoketuo Power-Inn Mongolia $400
Wanjiazhai Water Transfer $400
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Thermal Power $400
Xiaolangdi Multipurpose Dam/Power $430
Agriculture/Water supply-improving lives of rural poor through
agricultural productiviry programmes.
National Rural Water Supply $ 70
Heilogjiang Agricultural Development $120
Social Sectors-inverting in technical and basic education and
expanding rural development programmes to build skilled labour
force and reduce poverty.
Vocational Education Reform $ 30
4th Basic Education $ 85
Qinba Mts Region Poverty Reduction $180
Total US$ 2,815 million