WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug. 31 -- The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announces the appointment of Mr. Peter Cook as Director, Asia Department. Mr. Cook, a U.S. national, was educated at Yale University and Harvard Business School. He worked previously for Morgan Stanley for 27 years in the corporate finance, syndication, and investment banking departments. He was based in New York for 10 years and in London for 17 years. As Director of IFC's Asia Department, Mr. Cook will oversee IFC's project finance lending, equity investment, and corporate and government advisory work in 21 countries. More than a quarter of IFC's current portfolio in Asia is invested in the infrastructure sector, followed by financial services, textiles, timber, pulp and paper, and cement and construction. IFC's project financing activities in Asia have doubled in the last five years, from US$657 million in 1990 to US$1.2 billion in 1994. IFC's investments in Asia represent over 26 percent of the Corporation's total approvals worldwide
. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of equity and loan financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
