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East Asia & the Pacific
East Asia & the Pacific > Advisory Services
Are Thai Bankers' Ready for the Equator Principles? An Interview with the Secretary-General of The Thai Bankers Association
As a growing number of Thai banks finance ever more hydropower projects in the Mekong region, IFC is striving to raise the sustainability of such multi-million dollar infrastructure investments by familiarizing banks with environmental and social ris
In Papua New Guinea, Mobile Banking Brings Savings and Safety to Farmers
For farmers in Papua New Guinea’s province of East New Britain, harvest time can be days of plenitude – and peril. Farmers deliver hessian bags brimming with cocoa or copra (dried coconut meat which is processed for oil) to the local commodity
As Chinese Companies Invest Overseas, Green Credit Follows
China faces a growing waste problem. By 2030, Chinese municipalities are estimated to produce 480 million tons of residential garbage. That’s three times more than in 2008, and nearly double the projected waste in the United States over the same
Greening Buildings in Vietnam
As Vietnam’s economy continues to accelerate, so does its energy use. Vietnam’s power consumption has been growing at around 15 percent. Among the country’s biggest energy users is the building sector, which accounts for about 20 percent
Helping Local Governments in Indonesia Address Critical Investment Climate Challenges
Investment Climate teams of the World Bank Group have been working with several city and provincial authorities across Indonesia to find solutions to investment climate constraints facing the decentralized nation.
IFC's Advisory Services in East Asia and the Pacific
The global financial crisis has pushed 14 million more people into poverty in East Asia and the Pacific. While this region has weathered the downturn better than others, sustainable recovery will depend largely on goods and services sold at home rather than abroad. To support a shift from East Asia’s export-driven economies to domestic growth, IFC backs microfinance initiatives, helps governments simplify business regulations, and supports domestic companies in improving their corporate governance and competitiveness. We also teach farmers to adopt sustainable farming practices and support the tourism industry in the Pacific Islands.
IFC focuses on the poorest countries and regions when tackling four strategic goals: creating inclusive rural growth, supporting urban and domestic-led growth, fostering competitive markets, and fighting climate change. Two of the world’s three largest greenhouse-gas emitters—China and Indonesia—are located in East Asia. IFC therefore puts a strong emphasis on advising banks and other companies on how to direct funds to climate-friendly projects.
Impacts on the Ground
- In China and the Philippines, IFC partially guaranteed $258 million in energy efficiency financing in FY10, which is expected to avoid 2.5 million metric tons per year in heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
- IFC helped China establish a comprehensive national credit bureau that now covers 680 million people, with 61 million new registrants in FY10.
- The WING mobile phone-based money transfer system in Cambodia signed up more than 150,000 clients throughout the country by June 2010. About one-third of the clients are women, and half previously had no bank account. The number of total transactions grew 10 times in just one year, with total volumes approaching $3.5 million since inception. WING’s clients have saved about $600,000 to transfer funds to family and friends via text messages, cutting transaction costs from $2-$3 each to only 20-40 cents.
- IFC helped four cities in the Philippines to simplify requirements for obtaining business permits in FY10, cutting the number of days required by more than 70 percent and generating nearly $1 million in private-sector savings in the first six months.
- Four new public-private partnership mandates in infrastructure were signed in FY10—two in countries that are among the world’s poorest, and one in a post-conflict-affected country. These projects are expected to improve basic services for more than 700,000 people in four years after the transaction is completed.
- A tender was completed in FY10 for privatization of electricity distribution in Olongapo, Philippines, and is expected to improve service quality for 200,000 people and reduce energy losses, lowering emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 8,500 tons per year.
- About 1,000 Cambodian cashew farmers were trained in farming practices in FY10, and as a result 700 smallholders were certified as organic producers.
Core Services
Access to Finance
Investment Climate
Public-Private Partnerships
Sustainable Business Advisory
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