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Washington, DC, July 28, 2009
—IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) have announced a new working relationship to enhance the World Bank Group’s development impact in the private sector, particularly aimed at promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) in emerging economies. The two organizations believe the enhanced coordination will lead to improved joint solutions in support of clients, while maximizing development impact in transitioning and emerging markets.
IFC can bring its global presence, extensive client base, and wide range of products to the relationship while MIGA brings to the table its unique set of political risk insurance (PRI) instruments and understanding of the dynamics and management of political risk.
In terms of the new relationship, IFC and MIGA have established a contractual arrangement on cross-selling products, so that private sector clients of the World Bank Group will be able to obtain the complete range of product offerings available. In addition, Mr. Jean-Marie Masse has been appointed to a new joint IFC-MIGA position as Head, Business Development and Partnerships, IFC-MIGA. Masse, who has been with IFC for 15 years, leaves his existing role as IFC Head, Financial Markets Business Development, Europe, based in Paris to take up the new position in Washington.
The closer cooperation between IFC and MIGA has already produced a notable outcome in the financial sector, where the two organizations joined forces to support countries negatively affected by the global financial crisis. As part of its global Financial Sector Initiative, MIGA set aside €2 billion of PRI capacity to support banking sector recapitalization and has already committed a substantial portion of this amount, for the most part to assist banks in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. IFC, through its crisis response initiatives in sectors including banking, infrastructure, and trade as well as through its traditional investment and advisory services, is expected to contribute up to €2 billion to the region. The preparatory work, deal sourcing and a portion of the due diligence for these interventions were carried out jointly.
Going forward, MIGA will review how within the framework of this new cooperation agreement it can leverage IFC’s global presence on the ground to achieve improved access to potential investors and develop business, particularly in Asia.
Izumi Kobayashi, MIGA’s Executive Vice President, says the new working relationship is significant. “Enhanced collaboration should facilitate building better client relationships and identifying situations where the presence of both organizations can be a deciding factor in getting a project done. This will lead to more investments in the countries that need it most. We look forward to having Jean-Marie as part of our team.”
Lars Thunell, IFC Executive Vice President and CEO, said, “I’m delighted to welcome Jean-Marie to this new role. With his extensive experience at IFC working across regions and taking a leading role in stakeholder outreach, Jean-Marie is well positioned to develop synergies between MIGA and IFC that will benefit our clients in emerging markets”.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $16.2 billion in fiscal 2008, a 34 percent increase over the previous year. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About MIGA
MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment into emerging economies to support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives. MIGA fulfills this mandate by offering political risk insurance (guarantees) to investors and lenders, covering risks including expropriation, breach of contract, currency transfer restriction, and war and civil disturbance. Since its inception, MIGA has supported more than 600 projects in 100 developing countries, totaling more than $20 billion in coverage. MIGA’s gross exposure stands at $7.3 billion. For more information, visit
www.miga.org
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