Romania Modernizes Revenue Administration

WASHINGTON.The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the EUR70 million Revenue Administration Modernization project for Romania. Through this project, the World Bank is partnering with the country to increase effectiveness and efficiency in the collection of taxes and social contributions; increase tax compliance; and reduce the administrative burden on taxpayers to comply with their responsibilities under the tax laws. The National Agency for Fiscal Administration (NAFA) will manage the implementation of the project.Modernization of revenue administration is an important component of the Government’s economic reform program. Despite recent fiscal adjustment efforts, the external environment in Europe and weak growth in Romania will continue to pose a risk to macroeconomic stability. Given the limited headroom for new spending there is a strong interest in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of revenue collection. The government of Romania places importance on an effective tax administration that can encourage voluntary compliance and deal with tax evasion in a more efficient and technology-aided environment.The World Bank’s Doing Business Report 2013 shows that in Romania there is still much to be done to improve the ease of paying taxes and reduce the high number of tax payments. Also, Romania has a large number of small taxpayers facing a complex tax regime – both taxpayers and NAFA must use resources to manage their responsibilities disproportionate to the revenue contribution made by this segment of the economy.Revenue performance gains during the boom years of 2004-07 were modest with the revenue-GDP ratio rising from 27.2 to 29.0 percent; while revenue losses during the recession were severe, with tax-GDP ratio dropping back to 27.2 percent in 2010. Romania’s tax efficiency index is one of the lowest in EU countries, at 54 percent and 61 percent for VAT and social contributions respectively.Investments in key government institutions, including and not limited to revenue administration, are an important pre-condition for Romania to continue its convergence with the European Union.A modernized NAFA means one that is more efficient and effective. In general, a modern tax administration will seek to minimize direct contact with the taxpayer, and taxpayer service is provided through the use of a robust self-service website, through an accessible call center, and other means available. Reduced physical contact also minimizes opportunities for corrupt behavior. The project will implement an improved taxpayer service function to meet these challenges. Once the project will be completed, NAFA staff will be properly trained and distributed across the organization, with a focus on staff re-assignment to key areas such as audit and debt collection.The development of the project design has been informed by past work, including a recent World Bank functional review of the Ministry of Public Finance, several International Monetary Fund (IMF) diagnostic reports, and various European Union (EU) studies. There are four main project components: (1) institutional development; (2) increasing operational effectiveness and efficiency; (3) taxpayer services and corporate communication; and (4) project coordination and management. The loan is a LIBOR-based Euro single currency IBRD Flexible Loan plus fixed spread, with 12-year maturity, including a five-year grace period, with level repayment pattern. The expected effectiveness date is October 2013.

World Bank Continues to Support Croatia’s Innovation Potential

WASHINGTON.The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved the Second Science and Technology Project (STP II) in the amount of EURO20 million (USD$26.24 million equivalent). STP II will help those involved in research and innovation, including public research institutions, scientific communities, high performing scientists, and young researchers, to fully benefit from EU accession by increasing their capacity to apply for and implement EU-funded projects.STP II builds on a successful previous Science and Technology Project designed to strengthen Croatia’s innovation potential and increase its competitiveness by supporting the design and implementation of R&D programs managed by the Business Innovation Croatian Agency (BICRO) and the Unity through Knowledge Fund (UKF). It also assisted public research organizations to commercialize their research and improve the collaboration with the business sector.STP II will continue to support programs for small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) and scientists helping them to benefit from EU funds. This will be done by assisting selected public sector institutions design proposals and implement projects financed by EU funds. Through R&D financing, the project will help stimulate the demand for EU funds from the business and scientific communities, particularly SMEs, high performing scientists, and young researchers.“Experience from other EU member states shows that efficient use of EU funds for R&D and innovation has led to growth and productivity increases as well as creation of high skilled jobs, including for youth and women. This is of particular importance in times of economic crisis when public and private investments in R&D and innovation are limited.” said Mamta Murthi, Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries. “It is, therefore, vital for Croatia to seize the opportunity and efficiently use the forthcoming EU funds to further boost Croatia’s innovation potential. We are very pleased that Croatia has again chosen the World Bank to partner in this effort.”Since joining the World Bank in 1993, Croatia received support from the global development institution in the form of financial and technical assistance, policy advice, and analytical services. To date, the Bank has supported 48 projects in the amount of US$3.3 billion, and it has approved 52 grants with a total value of US$70 million.

World Bank Sees Climate Change Cutting Crop Production in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by over 25 Percent unless Action Is Taken Now

WASHINGTON In parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, climate change is poised to hamper food production and curb rural incomes over the next decades unless farmers get the help they need through improved water management and irrigation infrastructure, wider access to technology and information, and better land management and farming practices. Although governments throughout the region face rapidly narrowing windows of opportunity to protect farmers from climate change, there are actions that can be taken now to promote a new “climate-smart” approach to agriculture that improves agricultural productivity in today’s climate, while building resilience to climate change and reducing carbon emissions.Defining the policy and investment options available to governments – based on a rigorous evaluation of impacts of climate change on agricultural systems – is the aim of a new book published today by the World Bank, Looking Beyond the Horizon: How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.This new publication distills the experiences of four countries – Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan – that considered the future of their agricultural sectors under a number of climate change scenarios and examined each system’s capacity to cope with weather variability. Through economy-wide modeling of water supply and demand, the analysis found that, in many cases, water availability for irrigation will be severely curtailed by climate change. This will greatly exacerbate the effects of climate change on crops – especially irrigated crops – with potential yield reductions of 20–50 percent by 2050.The book also highlights the customized menu of climate change adaptation options devised by national experts and a World Bank team for each of the four countries. The adaptation options include practical measures such as improvement of crop varieties, investment in irrigation infrastructure, dissemination of timely and reliable weather forecasts to farmers, nutrient management and soil conservation, and livestock health and nutrition.The menus of adaptation options were prioritized for the various agricultural zones of all the countries according to rates of return on investment, acceptability to local farmers, applicability under different climate conditions, and the potential to reduce climate-change inducing greenhouse gas emissions. In several instances, the countries have already begun to put into action some of the recommendations. Within any economy, agriculture is one of the most sensitive sectors to climate change. In Albania, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan the risks are even more immediate and important given that the majority of the rural populations depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The rural poor stand to be disproportionately affected by climate change because of this dependence, and because of their very limited access to the resources needed to adapt to shifting weather patterns. In the case of the four countries that participated in this program, all are projected to experience higher temperatures of 1.5 – 2.0 degrees C by 2050, and, on top of that, rainfall in Albania, FYR Macedonia, and Moldova is expected to decrease. More significantly for farmers in each of the four countries is that temperature increases and rainfall declines are expected to be greater in June to August, critical months for crop production.While the approach to analyzing climate change impacts, assessing adaptive capacity, and determining the costs and benefits of policy options and farm-level responses was tested in four countries in the Europe and Central Asia region, the three authors, Sutton, Srivastava, and James E. Neumann, emphasize that this model is sufficiently flexible – and yet necessarily rigorous – to be undertaken in any country.“We believe it is urgent and central to understand the scope of climate change, its impacts on agriculture, and the possible responses in this region. This study aims to address these concerns by building awareness about climate change in our client countries and to work with them to offer practical climate smart solutions,” said Dina Umali-Deininger, Agriculture and Rural Development Sector Manager in the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region.In fact, in his recent speech at Georgetown University, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim called for increased investments in climate-smart agriculture. Complementing this call for climate-smart agriculture, the publication examines the scope for climate change impacts across a wide range of the most important crops in each agricultural area of the four countries and considers future production changes under three increasingly severe climate modeling scenarios. It also maps out clear, concrete adaptation responses to arrest production declines in each crop, from giving farmers access to better meteorological information through to improvements in drainage and irrigation.All four countries that partnered on this initiative have already begun undertaking some of the measures specified in the book, and the model is also now being applied to the agricultural sectors of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

World Bank Approves GEF and PPCR-supported Project to Help Communities in Tajikistan

Washington. The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$14.85 million grant for the Tajikistan Environmental Land Management and Rural Livelihoods Project, which aims to support more sustainable management of natural resources and increase the resilience of communities to climate change impacts.The Tajikistan Environmental Land Management and Rural Livelihoods Project is being financed through a US$9.45 million grant from the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience of the Strategic Climate Fund (PPCR) and a US$5.4 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund. Tajikistan is one of 18 countries participating in the PPCR supported by Multilateral Development Banks. In Tajikistan, the participating Banks are the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Development Bank.“Tajikistan is prone to natural disasters and it is assessed as the most vulnerable country to the impacts of future climate change in the Europe and Central Asia region. The project will help communities better understand how climate change may affect their land, water supply, livestock and crops. By using sustainable natural resource management practices that work well in Tajikistan, communities will have greater food security now and for the years to come,” said Marsha Olive, World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan.The agriculture sector is important for Tajikistan, as it accounts for 21 percent of GDP and 64 percent of employment. The project aims to benefit farmers by helping them carry out more effective and sustainable production and land management practices, and thereby help build their resilience to climate change. The project will also support analytical work and capacity-building in areas related to climate change risks and adaptation, integrated land, water and grazing management, and incentive-based approaches for sustainable land management. The direct beneficiaries are expected to be at least 21,000 rural households or 126,000 people in selected project sites.Tajikistan’s trust fund portfolio — one of the largest in Europe and Central Asia — remains an important supplement to the resources from the International Development Association (IDA), accounting for about 30 percent of total combined commitments in 2010–12. The Tajikistan portfolio includes 47 trust-funded operations with US$87 million in commitments. The active portfolio of the World Bank in Tajikistan currently consists of 14 projects with a net commitment of around US$232.8 million. The largest share of the portfolio is in agriculture and rural development (27 percent), followed by energy (24 percent), water and sanitation (18 percent), human development – education, health, and social protection (24 percent), the private sector (4 percent), and the public sector (2 percent).

BRICS development bank can rival IMF and World Bank

Professor of International Business Geoffrey Wood believes the new BRICS development bank can rival the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank if it can reconcile its competing agendas. Leaders of the so-called BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are in Durban putting together the new bank, which will initially focus on infrastructure and development projects. The BRICS nations make up 40 per cent of the world’s population and 17 per cent of world trade and though where it will be based and how much capital it will have is yet to be decided Professor Wood, of Warwick Business School, can see it becoming a big attraction for emerging markets.
“The track record of the IMF and World Bank austerity policies are very mixed, and there is little doubt that many nations would welcome an alternative to these bodies,” said the Warwick Business School Professor. “This is likely to make the BRICS development bank hugely influential if, indeed. But, in the short term, this is contingent on the extent to which it reconciles the competing agendas of the BRICS countries. “Most people assume that the current economic crisis has led to a great strengthening of the power of the World Bank and the IMF, and that this power is largely uncontested. What is interesting however, are the limits of the power of these bodies. “The aftermath of the Asian financial crisis saw a number of countries in Asia – and Russia as well – stockpiling foreign exchange reserves precisely so they did not have to make recourse to the IMF or World Bank again. “The proposed BRICS development bank represents an important new development, that, potentially further circumscribes the influence of these bodies. “The BRICS development bank will be extremely attractive to many developing countries who have had their fingers burned through engaging with the World Bank and the IMF. “In theory, the BRICS bank could erode the role and status of the IMF and the World Bank. However, the details of how the BRICS bank is governed and how it will operate remain unclear. What is even unclear is the amount of initial capitalization; very different sums of money are being bandied about. It will certainly be some years before the bank is operational, but in the long term it could have a significant impact.” The bank would have access to a huge and growing market, though the power struggle between the nations involved could lead to difficulties says Professor Wood.“China holds vast foreign exchange reserves and is likely to be, in some manner or other, the dominant player in the BRICS bank,” said Professor Wood.
“As the weakest BRICS member, South Africa has perhaps most to gain from establishing the bank, although all may gain from the international clout the new body may confer.“South Africa is the smallest BRICS member and has become increasingly reliant on minerals exports, which provide volatile revenue streams and, ultimately are a depleting resource.“South Africa could be faced by a balance of payments crisis in the future, and the BRICS bank could potentially be a lifeline for it.”

World Bank Financing to Help Uzbekistan Citizens Get Sustainable Health Services

WASHINGTON.Population of Uzbekistan will have easier access to quality primary and secondary health care. The World Bank’s Board of Directors today approved a US$ 93 million Additional Financing from the International Development Association (IDA) for Uzbekistan’s Health System Improvement Project (HSIP). The proposed Additional Financing (AF) would support the scaling up of some of the activities that already constitute the original project which aims at modernizing the health care delivery system. It would provide more accessible quality and sustainable health services to the population. The original project currently covers six out of thirteen regions of Uzbekistan as well as Tashkent City. The proposed AF would cover the health facilities in the remaining seven regions of Uzbekistan as well as selected City Medical Unions.“The project will assist Uzbekistan in scaling up major public health action through deepening ongoing health sector reforms,” said Takuya Kamata, World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan. “The proposed project is consistent with the current Country Partnership Strategy for fiscal years 2012-2015. It will address in a more systemic way the provision of quality hospital services to the country’s population and contribute to reforming the way those services are organized and are paid for”.The Additional Financing will scale-up the following components of the original project: Improving Health Service Delivery focusing on hospital services improvement, primary health care development, and clinical quality enhancement;
Strengthening Health Financing and Management Reforms focusing on per capita based Primary Health Care financing, hospital payment system reforms at district level and HealthFinancing Information System;
Institutional Strengthening for NCD Prevention & Control.
Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank’s mission in the country is to improve people’s livelihoods through being a partner in economic reforms, supporting the modernization of the country’s social sectors and infrastructure, and sharing its knowledge and experience with the government and the people of Uzbekistan.Total current World Bank commitments to Uzbekistan amount to US$987.5million, including this additional financing operation.

The World Bank and the Greens: Partners?

The World Bank Group building in Washington, D.C. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few weeks ago, President Barack Obama announced that he would nominate Dartmouth President Jim Yong Kim to succeed Robert Zoellick at the helm of the World Bank. Kim comes into the job facing major challenges and questions, particularly whether he will continue his predecessor’s disastrous efforts to turn the World Bank from an organization focused on economic development, to one that favors instituting a radical environmental agenda. Recently the World Bank released a new report documenting the ongoing fight against il legal logging, calling on the authorities to “fight organized crime in illegal logging the way we go after gangsters selling drugs or racketeering.” Ostensibly, ‘Justice for Forests,’ appeared to be the kind of report that the Consumers Alliance could support. Organized crime anywhere is a major problem, with bribes being passed along to middle men in order to undermine trade.However, the World Bank’s report is yet another example of the Bank’s love affair with the environmentalist movement. Despite there being robust research on illegal logging, the World Bank resorts to sourcing discredited information from Greenpeace—an ideological organization that’s hardly the bastion of impartial news. What’s more, the report calls for countries to pass similar legislation to the Lacey Act, because it “enables the prosecution of anyone knowingly in possession of illegal timber.” But this ignores the fact that Lacey ha s been abused by ideologues who wish to destroy corporate reputations, rather than actually enforcing the law. In sum, this report is yet another painful reminder that the World Bank is slowly moving away from its developmental goals in pursuit of an ideological agenda. One can only hope that Kim takes a different line to Zoellick, embracing the dynamism of markets and trade, rather kowtowing to WWF and Greenpeace’s corrupt green agenda.

Rohinton Medhora appointed incoming president of The Centre for International Governance Innovation

Waterloo, Canada The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Rohinton Medhora as president, effective May 19, 2012.Dr. Medhora is currently vice president of programs at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a federal crown corporation that supports research in developing countries to promote growth and development. Previously, he was director of IDRC’s Social and Economic Policy programs and led the centre’s Micro Impacts of Macroeconomic and Adjustment Policies and Trade, Employment and Competitiveness initiatives.“Rohinton’s distinguished experience and his leadership of internationally renowned research programs make him an ideal candidate to carry forward CIGI’s mission to conduct world-leading policy research and analysis,” said Jim Balsillie, chair of CIGI’s Operating Board of Directors. “We look forward to Dr. Medhora building on CIGI’s growing reputation as an authority on significant global economic and security challenges, deepening our research programs and expanding the think tank’s role in influencing policy makers to innovate.” Dr. Medhora received his doctorate in economics in 1988 from the University of Toronto, where he also subsequently taught for four years. His fields of expertise are monetary and trade policy, aid effectiveness and international economic relations. He has been a member of CIGI’s International Board of Governors since 2009. Dr. Medhora will assume his new position on a half-time basis over the summer while completing projects at IDRC and looks forward to assuming the CIGI role on a full-time basis in September.
“CIGI is a Canadian institution with its face to the rest of the world,” Rohinton Medhora said. “Its mission to improve multilateral governance resonates with an abiding concern in Canada and indeed across countries. I am thrilled and honoured to have been selected to lead CIGI into its second decade.” Dr. Medhora succeeds CIGI Executive Director Thomas A. Bernes, who was appointed in December 2009 and is assisting in the transition through May. Mr. Bernes, who has held high-level positions in the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Government of Canada, will continue with CIGI as a Distinguished Fellow, with special expertise in the global economy and global governance.
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by philanthropist Jim Balsillie, then co-CEO of Research In Motion (RIM), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.cigionline.org.

Banca Mondiale, Obama candida il coreano Jim Yong Kim: la presidenza a 1,10

a photo of Dr. Jim Yong Kim (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

E’ il medico di origine coreana Jim Yong Kim il candidato degli Stati Uniti a succedere a Robert Zoellick alla presidenza della Banca Mondiale: la candidatura a sorpresa del preside del prestigioso college di Dartmouth è stata annunciata questa mattina da Barack Obama. La decisione ufficiale da parte del board della World Bank sul prossimo presidente avverrà il mese prossimo, ma è bastata l’investitura del presidente Usa per far schizzare Jim Yong Kim in testa alla lavagna dei bookmaker: usciti di scena altri possibili candidati – l’ex segretario del Tesoro Usa Lawrence Summers, l’ambasciatrice all’Onu Susan Rice e il Segretario di Stato Hillary Clinton – la nomina del medico coreano, riporta Agipronews, è quotata a 1,10 dalla sigla irlandese Paddy Power. MSC/Agipro

World Bank Media: Europe and Central Asia

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Dushanbe.The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved additional financing in the amount of 10 million USD for the Tajikistan Land Registration and Cadastre System for Sustainable Agriculture Project. The additional financing of the project will support three major aspects of Tajikistan’s reform agenda for land and immovable property. It will contribute to expanding farmland restructuring and the issuance of land use-rights certificates to farmers, support the development of a cadastral system with spatial data about properties, and develop a set of pilot activities and plans for the development of a future immovable property registration system in Tajikistan. The additional financing will help to create the enabling conditions for private sector-led development in agriculture and other sectors of the economy.Throughout the three years of the project’s extension under the additional financing, actions will be taken to build understanding on how to improve the immovable property registry system by testing and demonstrating the integration of registry and cadastral information and good customer service in selected areas, and supporting analysis and planning for their expansion to the national level. The project will further expand farmland restructuring and issuance of certificates for family farms, and expand the issuance of use rights certificates for other types of immovable property. It will also include support for the activities that complement farmland restructuring and certificate issuance, including information for farmers and other immovable property users. Grants for on-farm irrigation rehabilitation, and environmental land management, also comprise an important aspect of the additional financing. Since its inception in October of 2005, the project has achieved a number of important results. So far, the project has been responsible for the issuance of over 37,500 land use certificates for family and individual farms, out of about 50,000 issued throughout the country. Seven Regional Land and Cadastral Centers have been put into operation, and a geodetic reference network has been developed for use for the legal cadastre system. The project has fostered a number of policy reforms, including initiatives related to farm debt resolution, spatial data availability, and the decentralization of certificate issuance, and has also built awareness of other key land policy issues. The project has also financed 60 grants to Water User Associations to support on-farm irrigation rehabilitation investments on 10,700 ha in 23 districts, involving nearly 23,000 land use certificate shareholders. In addition, over 132,000 people have been educated about the meaning of land use rights and the process of restructuring large government-managed farms into family and individual holdings. The project has also supported a large-scale publicity campaign and technical training.
The Tajikistan Land Registration and Cadastre System Project is currently financed by a 20.39 million USD grant from the International Development Agency (IDA) arm of the World Bank Group, which includes a contribution of 90,000 USD from the Government of Tajikistan, and 330,000 USD worth of contributions from the beneficiaries of the project.
The active portfolio of the World Bank in Tajikistan consists of 15 projects with a net commitment of US$ 212.5 million. The largest share of ongoing portfolio is in agriculture and rural development (31 percent), followed by energy (23 percent), water (17 percent), education (15 percent), health (8 percent), and economic policy and public sector (6 percent).

Tajikistan Energy Loss Reduction Project

Nature of Tajikistan (Photo credit: veni markovski)

Washington.The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved additional financing of US$ 18 million for the Energy Loss Reduction Project in Tajikistan. The project assists in reducing the commercial losses in the electricity and gas sectors, and lays the foundation for the improvement of the financial viability of the electricity and gas utilities in a socially responsible manner. The Energy Loss Reduction Project was initially approved in June 2005 and was funded by an International Development Association (IDA) credit and grant of US$ 19 million, and a US$ 8 million grant from the Government of Switzerland’s Secretariat for Economic Cooperation (SECO). The project was restructured in February 2011 to include financing for the assessment studies for the proposed Rogun Hydropower Project. To date, the project enabled Barki Tajik to install 170,000 electricity meters in Dushanbe. As a result, electricity billed increased by 50 percent in two years, improving efficiency, reducing losses, and helping to put the utility on a sounder financial footing.”The energy sector is crucial for the growth of Tajikistan’s economy, and more importantly, for the well-being of the Tajik people,” said Ms. Marsha Olive, World Bank Country Manager for Tajikistan. “We hope that this additional financing will help further the energy security agenda and will inform the Government’s strategic energy development objectives.”The project will scale-up metering and collection efficiency, contributing to further loss reduction in the sector. Furthermore, the additional financing for the project includes several strategic studies to help in achieving improved system reliability and energy security, particularly during the critical winter months, such as for rehabilitation and sedimentation studies for the Nurek Hydropower Plant. In addition, it provides advisory support needed by the Government of Tajikistan for the preparation of electricity export arrangements such as the Central Asia South Asia Regional Electricity Market development initiative (CASA-1000 project).The additional financing will also support continuation of the international process of the assessment studies for the proposed Rogun Hydropower Project in Tajikistan, as envisaged by earlier project restructuring. The Government of Tajikistan is expected to define a detailed implementation schedule for the assessment studies in line with international standards. It is expected that the draft feasibility studies will be available in about nine months for subsequent review and consultations in Tajikistan and with the riparian countries. The expected outcome of the additional financing is the increased capacity and ability of the Government to make strategic decisions for the growth and sustainability of the energy sector and the country’s economy. The project is also expected to deepen the impact of the metering program through increased billing and higher collections, which would subsequently lead to improvement in the financial viability of the sector, and build better accountability of energy and revenue flows. The completion of the metering and billing component would provide the customers with satisfaction of fair treatment and assurance that they are paying for what they actually consume, thus supporting the project’s objective of loss reduction in a socially responsible manner.
The World Bank is also currently preparing a power supply options study for Tajikistan. This study will assess the energy supply options available to Tajikistan taking into account power, economic, environmental, social, and water management considerations. The World Bank’s overall engagement in the energy sector supports the Government of Tajikistan’s strategy to ensure reliable supply to consumers, deal with the severe winter energy shortages, reduce electricity system losses and strengthen financial management system to improve the financial condition of the energy sector, and develop a regional trade scheme to achieve sustainable export of summer surplus electricity.
The overall active portfolio of the World Bank in Tajikistan currently consists of 14 projects with net commitment of US$ 192 million covering energy and water (35 percent), agriculture and rural development (31 percent), education, health and social protection (30 percent), and economic policy and public sector (4 percent).

Third Development Policy Loan (DPL-3) to Romania

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Bucharest The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loan worth €400 million for Romania on December 19. The objective of this loan is to support the Government’s reforms in fiscal management, social protection, and the financial sector in order to position Romania to emerge from the economic and financial crisis on a stronger footing, and resume and sustain convergence to the living standards of more advanced EU economies and withstand better any further shocks. “The Government of Romania decided some time ago, in cooperation with its international partners, that, in the context of the global crisis, it needed to urgently address existing challenges if it was to have success in the medium term,” said Peter Harrold, World Bank Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic Countries. “Please know that as Romania moves forward, the international community, the World Bank included, is ready to support this agenda. We look forward to continuing to build on the achievements so far, and to supporting the implementation of reform, to see a better social and economic future for all Romanians.” This is the Third Development Policy Loan (DPL-3) to be disbursed to Romania, in a series totaling €1 billion. The program is part of the International Monetary Fund

World Bank Launches New Partnership Strategy with Uzbekistan

Wahington, The World Bank Group’s Board of Directors today approved a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Uzbekistan, providing the framework for World Bank Group assistance to Uzbekistan between 2012 and 2015.
The new Strategy proposes a program linked to Uzbekistan’s development vision of reaching high middle-income status by mid-century. It was developed based on a broad dialogue with the Government of Uzbekistan and consultations with all development partners, including civil society organizations, academia, business communities, professional associations, and multilateral and bilateral donors.Through implementation of the CPS, the World Bank intends to help enhance the key elements of the Government’s medium-term growth and development strategy: promoting efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, accelerating diversification, and ensuring social inclusion. A new financing envelope of US$1.3 billion – consisting of concessional International Development Association (IDA) credits and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) loans – reflects the country’s development needs, its income level, economic prospects, economic management, poverty level, and performance of Bank-sponsored programs. It will support projects in the areas of water supply and sanitation, irrigation, energy, transport, and private sectors over the next four years. The Bank will also extend the on-going support for basic services in health and educationProposed analytical and advisory services aim to help Uzbekistan prepare a comprehensive sector-wide understanding of future development directions. Horticulture and energy sector strategy development is an example of such engagement. In addition, the CPS envisages a high-level joint strategy development exercise – “Uzbekistan Vision 2030”. This aims to help Uzbekistan define roadmaps to achieve its development goals in collaboration with Uzbek research institutes. “The new CPS builds upon the positive experience of the previous Country Assistance Strategy for 2008-2011,” says Takuya Kamata, World Bank Country Manager for Uzbekistan. “Uzbekistan has a wide range of opportunities. It has a well educated, young population, which is a great asset. Uzbekistan has great potential in horticulture as well. Key elements of required economic reforms are, for example, to improve energy intensity and the investment climate. And, transparency and accountability in governance are critical for inclusive growth.”
About the World Bank in Uzbekistan Uzbekistan joined the World Bank in 1992. The World Bank currently has 10 active projects whose outstanding total commitment is about US$630 million.

Durban’s Mission: Food Security First

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Durban, South Africa – On the opening day of the United Nations climate talks in Durban, the pro-development NGO World Growth released a new report urging world leaders to focus on the importance of food security, particularly in Africa, and the critical role of palm oil as an effective strategy to reduce food insecurity. Palm oil as part of the solution is under threat by environmental NGOs, some leading industrialized economies, as well as the World Bank, who seek to halt the conversion of forest land to palm oil and to install sustainability standards that will curtail expansion of palm oil plantations in Africa. The new report by World Growth features a foreword by President J. A. Kufuor, Former President of the Republic of Ghana. President Kufuor writes about the importance for addressing long-standing hunger and food insecurity challenges that have plagued Africa and how the South East Asian experience with palm oil can provide the path forward for Africa: “Poverty alleviation in Africa continues to lag the rest of the world. The rural poor are a large proportion of the food insecure – half of Africa’s food insecure people are smallholders. The problems facing Africans in accessing food supplies are clear. Agricultural productivity is low. Post-harvest losses are high, as are the costs of internal transport and distribution. As a consequence, smallholders are unable to produce enough either to feed their families or to lift them out of poverty. In South-East Asia, commercial palm oil plantations have been highly successful at reducing rural poverty levels, fostering employment for small holders, developing rural infrastructure, and providing a source of inexpensive, staple food for the population as a whole.”World Growth Chairman and former Ambassador to the GATT (the predecessor to the World Trade Organization) made the following observations:“In Africa, several palm oil development projects are in the process of being implemented. If they proceed to fruition, these investments have the ability to increase the local supply of an important food staple, reduce the need for Africa to import substantial quantities of palm oil, provide the basis for a new export industry and, most importantly, boost job creation in a region historically beset by poverty.“Yet this miracle is under threat from Western sustainability standards, championed by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) that will undermine efforts to strengthen food security amongst the very poor, such as smallholders. Efforts in Durban will also seek to instill new policies that enshrine a view that forest land conversion should be halted due to its large contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Data points out this is inaccurate as the levels of emissions claimed by the World Bank and other leading economies is half of what they claim. These actions by Greens like WWF and the World Bank threaten Africa’s food security and should be resisted by developing nations during the negotiations.”

G20 leaders to cut fossil fuel subsidies and kick start Climate Fund

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Cannes 2/11/2011 Greenpeace today challenged G20 leaders attending this week’s summit in Cannes to deliver on their pledge to cut fossil fuel subsidies and instead invest in green jobs, in response to the current global financial, economic, and environmental crisis. A World Bank report prepared for the G20 shows that if developed countries transferred $10 billion from fossil fuel subsidies to climate finance, this could kick start the $100 billion Green Climate Fund and pay for real solutions that cut emissions, create jobs and help the most vulnerable countries adapt to climate change. This $10 billion funding would represent only 20 percent of the current spend on climate-destroying subsidies.“G20 leaders must deliver on their 2009 pledge by setting a clear timetable for cutting fossil fuel subsidies”, said Patricia Lerner, Greenpeace International Senior Political Advisor. “Instead of lining the pockets of oil companies during a time of financial crisis, this is an opportunity for world leaders to act in the interests of the people instead of polluting corporations.”Greenpeace is calling on the G20 to formulate a timetable for the phase-out of fossil fuel production subsidies. The consumption subsidy reforms required for this phase-out need to be delivered through socially just transition plans, designed to protect the poor in developing countries.The international environmental organization also issued a checklist (4) today of four key criteria for a successful G20, calling on leaders to honour their promises to protect their citizens from the climate crisis, which will make the current economic crisis look small, if leaders fail to act decisively to prevent catastrophic climate change. “Time is of the essence for bailing out the climate”, Lerner added. “With just weeks to go before the climate summit in Durban, governments must show that the G20 can be a calming force for both the world economy and climate, by cutting polluting subsidies and shifting that money to create the green jobs and climate protection investments the world so urgently needs.”
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.