| http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...singapore.html The World Bank started collaborating with Singapore on a hub to help countries address the challenges of urbanization two years ago, followed by the opening last year of an Infrastructure Finance Center of Excellence in Singapore, Zoellick said. Those will now be joined by units such as International Finance Corp., the bank’s private investment arm, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, its private sector guarantee arm. International Finance Corp.’s new asset management company and Government of Singapore Investment Corp. are already cooperating on a commercially run global infrastructure fund, Zoellick said. The private investment arm will also explore ways of working with Singapore-based commercial banks and companies to make debt and equity investments in emerging markets available to global investors, he said. http://www.gic.com.sg/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...ce_Corporation http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTE...K:4607,00.html It’s a partnership that was further deepened by the launch last year of an Infrastructure Finance Center of Excellence, IFCOE, in Singapore – in recognition of the strong demand for services in infrastructure. We have seen some of the potential already. A project supported by IFCOE in Chongqing, China involving securitization of future toll road revenues is expected to reach financial closure this year. An Infrastructure Guarantee Fund in Indonesia is now established and operational. There is also a public- private partnership toll road project in Vietnam; support to ASEAN in the preparation and implementation of the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan; and the establishment of a regional mediation center for infrastructure PPP projects. Today we are building on these successes. Singapore will become a multidimensional hub of the World Bank Group’s knowledge and financial activities – for both Asia and some global enterprises. The Singapore Hub will be a unique center that encapsulates our commitment not just to mutual learning but to pragmatic decentralization. To deliver on this purpose, we expect this Hub to grow to some 70 professional staff over the next three years. We are investing in Singapore as a knowledge economy and financial services center. Developing countries have become a key source of growth and opportunity. In East Asia, private investments have accomplished a great deal but key restraints remain. We need to unlock private sector interest in infrastructure and bring more investors to the table. We need an integrated approach to support practical solutions for jump-starting the public-private partnership market. Our new Singapore Hub can help meet those needs. This will be the first combined World Bank Group office outside Washington able to offer products and services from across the Bank Group to our clients. The Hub will be a Bank Group center that will foster training and capacity building through our World Bank Institute, building on the already very successful urban leadership training program in partnership with the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. |
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