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The full name of the World Bank is the World Bank, and its predecessor is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It is a specialized agency under the United Nations and an international financial institution responsible for long-term loans. The World Bank was established in accordance with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Agreement adopted at the Bretton Woods Conference in the United States in 1944. Its purpose is to provide funds for the revival and development of member States through production investment; Promote foreign investment and human investment through loan guarantee or participation in loans and other forms of investment. When member countries cannot obtain private capital under reasonable conditions, they will give direct loans to member countries with their own funds or funds raised by banks under appropriate conditions to supplement the shortage of private investment; By encouraging international investment, developing the production resources of member countries, providing technical advice and improving production capacity, we can promote the balanced growth of international trade and improve the balance of payments of member countries. According to the purpose of the World Bank, its main business activities are to provide long-term loans to developing member countries, to provide loans and technical assistance to member governments or private enterprises guaranteed by governments, and to finance the construction of some construction projects with long construction period and low profit rate, which are necessary for the country's economic and social development. The World Bank cooperated with the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finane Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to form the World Bank Group.
The World Bank is one of the largest development aid agencies in the world. The World Bank uses its capital, high-quality talents and extensive knowledge base to help developing countries embark on a stable, sustainable and balanced development path. The World Bank mainly focuses on helping the poorest people and countries. For all its borrowers, the World Bank emphasizes the following needs:
1. Invest in people, especially by providing basic health care and education services;
2. Protect the environment;
3. Support and encourage the development of private enterprises;
4. Strengthen government capacity, improve efficiency, increase transparency and provide quality services;
5. Promote reform and create a stable macroeconomic environment conducive to investment and long-term planning;
6. Pay attention to social development, participation, good governance and institution-building as key elements for poverty reduction.
The World Bank also helps countries around the world to consolidate and strengthen the basic conditions needed to attract and maintain private investment. With the help of the World Bank's funds and consulting services, governments have carried out comprehensive economic reforms, strengthened the banking system, and invested in human resources, infrastructure and environmental protection, thus improving the attractiveness and efficiency of private investment. Through the financing guarantee of the World Bank and the political risk guarantee of multilateral investment guarantee institutions, combined with the equity investment of international finance companies, investors can minimize the risk of investing in developing countries and countries with economies in transition and feel more at ease.
When the world enters the new century, neither frustration nor complacency is allowed. The success of developing countries depends partly on the economic development of the United States, Europe and Japan, and also on whether developing countries can implement their own policy and system reforms to lay the foundation for strong growth. Throughout the world, only those countries that can best seize the opportunities brought by globalization and effectively avoid its risks can prosper, while those countries that cannot adapt to globalization will become more and more backward, widening the gap between the rich and the poor in the world.
Noting the challenges in the future, the World Bank is working with developing countries to try a more inclusive and comprehensive model to realize its development mission, that is, the comprehensive development framework. As the World Bank shifts from funding only development projects to solving broader problems, such as human and social development, governance and institutions, the need for such a more comprehensive framework has become increasingly prominent. According to the requirements of the comprehensive development framework model, each country must formulate its own development plan, which is a long-term vision of the results to be achieved and supported by the government, aid agencies, civil society, the private sector and other development participants. In launching the Comprehensive Development Framework, the World Bank focused on several major aspects that it considered to be effective development:
Structurally: good politics and clean government, effective legal and judicial system, orderly and supervised financial system, social security system and social plan;
Materials: water supply and sewage, energy, roads, transportation and communication, environment and cultural issues;
Specific strategy: targeting rural, urban and private sectors.
Each country has its own key areas, and the importance attached to macroeconomic and financial issues, labor market and employment conditions, and the role of the private sector depends on the characteristics of each country and citizens' opinions on priority areas and plans to solve these problems.
In order to apply the principles of the Comprehensive Development Framework, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund jointly launched the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which was formulated by various countries and became the basis for debt reduction and preferential loans. The purpose of formulating poverty reduction strategy papers is to expand the representation of civil society, especially the poor themselves, in designing poverty reduction strategies, strengthen coordination among development partners, and pool the analysis, research, policy consultation and financial resources of the international community to achieve the effectiveness of poverty reduction.
Composition of the World Bank Group:
1, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
IBRD provides loans and development assistance to middle-income countries and poor countries with good credit. Its voting rights are linked to the subscribed shares of member countries, and the subscribed shares are determined according to the relative economic strength of each member country. The main source of funds for IBRD is to issue bonds in the international capital market.
2. International Development Association
The International Development Association plays an important role in the poverty alleviation mission of the World Bank. The International Development Association assists the poorest countries in the world by providing them with interest-free loans and other services. The main source of funds for the International Development Association is donations from wealthier member countries, including some developing countries.
3. International Finance Corporation
Providing investment funds for the private sector and providing technical assistance and consulting services for the government and enterprises will promote the economic growth of developing countries. Together with private investors, IFC provides loans and equity financing to commercial enterprises in developing countries.
4. Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
Promote foreign investment in developing countries by providing non-commercial risk guarantees to foreign investors. MIGA also assists the government in disseminating information about investment opportunities.
5. International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
Assist in solving investment disputes between foreign investors and host countries through mediation or arbitration.
Operational activities of the World Bank
By providing loans, policy advice and technical assistance, the World Bank supports various projects and plans aimed at reducing poverty and improving people's living standards in developing countries. Formulating an effective poverty reduction strategy and providing loans focused on poverty reduction are the key to achieving these goals. The World Bank's business plan attaches great importance to promoting sustainable social and human development, strengthening economic management, and increasingly emphasizing participation, governance and institution building.
The World Bank also helps the governments of borrowing countries to promote the reform of social security and pension systems, establish social safety nets and protect those groups most vulnerable to economic restructuring. In addition to loans, the World Bank also provides technical assistance and policy suggestions through in-depth assessment of national poverty, national aid strategies and public expenditure research, thus helping governments to formulate sound long-term economic growth strategies.
environmental protection
There is an internal relationship between poverty reduction and the sustainable development of environment and society. Sustainable development has many meanings, but the first thing is that resources, including human resources, must be protected and strengthened in the process of development, not destroyed or exhausted. In most cases, developing countries are more prone to environmental degradation than industrial countries. Air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, deforestation and other problems have always threatened their ability to meet people's basic needs, including adequate food, clean drinking water, safe housing and a healthy environment.
The World Bank has made great efforts to ensure that its loan projects will not damage the natural environment. All projects must be carefully examined to determine whether they will cause harm to the environment, and environmental assessment should also be carried out for projects that may be harmful. In addition, the World Bank has taken special measures for such projects to avoid environmental damage. Concern for the environment has permeated all the business activities of the World Bank, because experience has proved that prevention beforehand is more effective than governance afterwards.
In order to strengthen this work, the World Bank works closely with other development agencies, non-governmental organizations and community organizations to make use of their knowledge and experience. The World Bank cooperates with the World Conservation Union, nature conservation organizations, the World Wide Fund for Nature and many other organizations to help promote projects to protect rivers, forests and coastal areas. The World Bank is also the executing agency of the Global Environment Facility, which plays an important role in solving major global environmental problems such as biodiversity, climate change, ozone layer depletion and international water pollution.
Promote private sector development
The private sector is the locomotive of long-term growth. A stable and open business environment, access to loans and a sound financial system are crucial to the emergence of private entrepreneurs, the prosperity of enterprises, the enhancement of investment confidence of domestic people and foreign investors, and the creation of wealth, income and employment opportunities. The World Bank helps the borrowing governments of developing countries in China to create the necessary conditions for revitalizing and expanding private sector investment, including:
1. Formulate basic laws and regulations according to the needs of private investors and establish local institutions to ensure the fulfillment of contractual obligations;
2. Infrastructure construction (such as transportation, water supply, energy, communication, etc.). ), in order to improve the country's global market competitiveness, establish the necessary key technology and information foundation;
3. Develop domestic capital market and banking system.
In addition to loans and technical assistance, the World Bank also provides guarantees to encourage private investment. The purpose of these guarantees is to alleviate the investment risk, especially the long-term debt financing risk, which is of great significance to attract private financing to develop infrastructure. It is estimated that in the next decade, the world bank borrowers will need more than 250 billion dollars for infrastructure construction every year. The guarantee provided by the World Bank aims to supplement the reform plan and cooperate with the risk reduction services provided by the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency for the private sector.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is the institution in charge of the private sector of the World Bank. Since its establishment in 1956,/kloc-0 has committed more than $29 billion of its own funds to 2,446 companies in 36 developing countries, and arranged 192 billion of syndicated loans and bond underwriting. IFC has also helped many countries to establish capital markets and provided consulting services for the privatization of state-owned enterprises.
The political risk guarantee provided by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency also aims to support the development of the private sector and give investors confidence to invest in enterprises that may appear too risky without guarantee. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency has provided guarantees for investment projects in 82 developing countries, with the total amount of guarantees exceeding 1 10 billion US dollars, and the total amount of foreign direct investment promotion is estimated to exceed 47 billion US dollars. Multilateral investment guarantee agencies also provide technical assistance to the government and provide information on investment opportunities in these countries through innovative websites to serve investors and borrowers.
Promote economic reform
In view of the fact that economic distortions have aggravated the poverty problem, the World Bank has helped its borrowing governments to improve their economic and social policies, enhance efficiency, increase transparency, promote stability and achieve balanced economic growth. By providing loans, policy advice and technical assistance, the World Bank supports reforms to reduce the budget deficit, reduce the inflation rate, open trade and investment, privatize state-owned enterprises, establish and improve the financial system, strengthen the judicial system and protect property rights. These reform measures help attract foreign private capital, increase domestic savings and investment, and enable the government to provide effective social services.
However, as the adoption of reform measures will lead to the closure of inefficient enterprises and the reduction of inefficient government subsidies, prices will rise, so the reform will have a short-term negative impact on the poor and vulnerable people. In order to solve these problems, when the World Bank supports the reform, it often funds the plan to establish a social safety net to help protect the poor or prevent the vulnerable groups from falling into poverty.
The high debt owed by poor countries to the governments of industrial countries is increasingly regarded as a serious constraint that prevents these countries from implementing fundamental reforms. In order to ensure that economic reform will not be threatened by high debt and heavy debt service burden, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund jointly launched the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) in 1996. This motion represents the commitment of the international community, including all creditor countries, to take concerted action to reduce the debt burden of very poor countries to a sustainable level. If a country wants to meet the debt reduction conditions proposed by heavily indebted poor countries, it must first meet the loan conditions of the International Development Association, face the unsustainable debt burden, and make a clear commitment to implement economic reform. The basis of debt reduction proposed in this motion is debt sustainability in the context of economic growth and poverty reduction. The initiative now has a capital of about $23 billion, and so far 13 countries have met the conditions for debt relief.
Overcome corruption
If the government wants to improve efficiency, it must win the trust and confidence of the people they serve. Corruption has a destructive impact on the economy and society, weakens people's trust in the government, weakens the effectiveness of public policies, lowers investors' confidence, and has a negative impact on attracting foreign investment. Corruption also reduces the efficiency of aid funds and poses a threat to the political and grassroots support of donor countries.
Although the people and the government must play a leading role in the fight against corruption, the World Bank is also supporting the anti-corruption work in some countries. The World Bank conducted surveys on the extent and characteristics of corruption in several countries, and organized seminars, courses and training activities for government officials and civil society. However, the most far-reaching impact is the World Bank's efforts to help countries formulate and implement policies and institutional reforms to reduce opportunities for corruption. These reforms include strengthening financial supervision and information disclosure, improving the transparency of public sector decision-making, and strengthening accountability by recognizing the rights and interests of shareholders and creditors.
At present, the World Bank has carried out more than 600 activities involving public sector reform in 95 countries, and more than 20 countries have applied for World Bank assistance to solve the corruption problem.
Assistance to countries affected by conflicts
Conflict and violence are one of the most pressing development problems in the world, and many of the poorest countries in the world suffer greatly. The comparative advantage of the World Bank in this field is to help these countries realize the transition from dependence on relief to sustainable economic growth, and to strengthen the coordination of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction assistance. The World Bank's assistance to post-conflict countries not only focuses on the reconstruction of infrastructure, but also focuses on promoting economic adjustment and recovery, addressing the needs of social sectors, strengthening institutional capacity-building planning, and carrying out projects such as mine clearance, resettlement of ex-soldiers and the return of refugees to their homes. The World Bank is active all over the world, working with all parties in the Balkans, Burundi, Cambodia, East Timor, Haiti, Sierra Leone and other countries to help restore and rebuild the economy, achieve stability and build a better future for people whose lives are affected by conflicts.
Mobilize funds
The unique partnership between the World Bank and the governments of borrowing countries and its role in helping the governments of borrowing countries to make plans and determine priorities enable them to play a strong coordinating role in mobilizing funds needed for development.
Loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association usually only pay less than half of the total investment of the project, and the rest is raised by the borrowing government itself or provided by all parties involved in joint financing. In this way, the funds raised by the World Bank through the sale of bonds and the subscription of shares by member countries have expanded several times in terms of influence and effectiveness.
Co-financing with other aid agencies or donor countries is an extremely effective way, which can not only mobilize more funds, but also promote cooperation among development agencies. Co-financing parties include other development banks, the European Union, national aid programs and export credit agencies. The World Bank has hosted consultative group meetings for many borrowing countries, enabling officials of donor countries to contact and discuss the main points and strategies of overall economic development with the main decision makers of borrowing countries, and make aid commitments.
The focus of the World Bank's business has changed significantly. 1980, the investment in power sector accounted for 2 1% of the total loans of the world bank, but today, this proportion has dropped to 5%. On the contrary, the proportion of health, nutrition, education and social security projects in World Bank loans rose from 5% in 1980 to 25% today. In addition, the World Bank, owned by 184 countries, is promoting development in different ways, focusing on other issues such as gender, community development and ethnic minorities.
Sources of funds of the World Bank
The World Bank uses the international capital market to raise development funds, while the International Development Association relies on donations from the governments of richer member countries.
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
Loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development account for about three-quarters of the World Bank's annual loans, and almost all the funds are raised from the financial market. As one of the most prudent and conservative financial institutions in the world, IBRD sells AAA bonds and other bonds all over the world, targeting pension funds, insurance institutions, companies, other banks and individuals. The loan interest rate of IBRD to the borrowing country reflects its financing cost. The loan repayment period is fifteen to twenty years, and there is a grace period of three to five years before the repayment of the principal begins.
Less than 5% of IBRD's funds are shares subscribed by member countries when they join the World Bank. The governments of member countries subscribe for shares according to their relative economic strength, but they only need to pay a small part of the subscribed shares, and the unpaid balance is outstanding shares, which will be paid when the World Bank is unable to pay bonds due to serious losses. This has never happened before. This guarantee capital can only be used to pay bondholders, not to pay administrative expenses or issue loans. According to the regulations of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the balance of outstanding and paid loans shall not exceed the sum of capital and reserves.
Aida, mt
The International Development Association (IDA) was established in 1960 to provide preferential loans to poor countries that cannot borrow at commercial interest rates. The purpose of the International Development Association is the same as that of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which is to promote growth and alleviate poverty. However, IDA takes the form of interest-free loans (called "IDA credits"), technical assistance and policy advice. Loans from the International Development Association (IDA) account for about a quarter of the total loans from the World Bank. The borrowing country must pay an administrative fee not exceeding 1% of the loan amount, and the repayment period is 35 to 40 years, with a grace period of 10 year.
The International Development Association supplements its funds every three years with donations from nearly 40 countries. Donors include not only industrial countries such as France, Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States, but also developing countries such as Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Hungary, South Korea, Russia and Turkey, some of which were borrowers of the International Development Association.
IDA funds are managed in the same cautious, conservative and careful way as IBRD. Like IBRD, IDA's credit has never defaulted.
Management of the World Bank
The World Bank is owned by 184 countries, and the opinions and interests of its member countries are represented by the board of directors and the executive board in Washington.
Directors and executive directors
The member countries of the World Bank are the shareholders of the World Bank and have the final decision-making power. Each member country appoints a director and a deputy director to exercise their duties. Directors are usually officials, such as finance ministers or planning ministers. They meet at the annual meeting of the World Bank held every autumn, decide on major policy issues of the World Bank, accept new members or suspend their membership, decide on changes in legal share capital, decide on the distribution of net income of IBRD, and approve financial statements and budgets.
As ministers only meet once a year, most of the powers of directors are delegated to the executive Committee. Each member government of the World Bank Group is represented by an executive director based in Washington, D.C.. The five countries with the largest number of shares-France, Germany, Japan, Britain and the United States-each appoint an executive director, and other member countries are represented by 19 executive directors elected by national groups (or constituencies). Some countries, such as China, Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia, form a single national constituency, while others form a multinational constituency. These twenty-four directors usually meet twice a week to supervise and manage the World Bank's business, including approving loans and guarantee projects, new principles and policies, administrative budget, national aid strategy, and borrowing and financial decisions.
Bank president/president
Traditionally, the president of the World Bank is an American citizen, and the United States is the country with the largest share. The president's term of office is five years and can be re-elected. The president serves as the chairman of the executive board and is responsible for the overall management of the World Bank. James Wolfensohn is the ninth president of the World Bank Group since 1946. He started his career as an international investment banker and also participated in development and global environmental affairs. Since1took office on June 6, 1995, he has visited more than 100 countries in order to obtain first-hand information about the challenges faced by the World Bank and its member countries.
65438+1 On September 27, 1999, the Executive Board of the World Bank unanimously approved Mr. Wolfensohn's re-election as President of the World Bank, starting from June 20001,which made Mr. Wolfensohn the third president to be re-elected in the history of the World Bank.
Year-end party
Every autumn, the boards of directors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold a joint annual meeting to discuss the work of their respective organizations. The time of the annual meeting is generally between September and June, 65438+ 10. According to the usual practice, two consecutive sessions were held in Washington, and the third session is scheduled to be held in other member States. The 2002 annual meeting was held in Washington on September 29th.
As many officials from member countries attend the annual meeting, it provides opportunities for various matters, formal and informal consultations. At the same time, many seminars were held to promote creative dialogue between the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the media.
In addition, every spring, the Joint Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and the Monetary and Financial Committee of the International Monetary Fund also hold meetings to discuss the progress of their work. Like the annual meeting, a series of seminars will be held during the meeting, including the private sector, the media and the non-governmental sector. The plenary meetings of the boards of directors of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are only held in autumn.
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