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As part of its strategy to support global trade, the World Bank Group seeks to enhance trade finance in emerging markets. In 2005 the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the Bank Group, introduced the Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) to support the extension of trade finance to underserved clients globally. This IEG evaluation found that overall, the GTFP was a relevant response to the demand to reduce risk in trade finance in emerging markets. The program significantly improved IFC's engagement in trade finance by introducing an open network of banks and a quick, flexible response platform to support the supply of trade finance. IEG's evaluation covers the program's operations from its inception in 2005 through FY2012. The program grew from a $500 million annual commitment to $5 billion in FY12. It accounted for 39 percent of total IFC commitments and has low costs. It accounted for 2.4 percent of IFC's capital use and 1.2 percent of its staff costs and has had no claims to date. It is profitable as well, although not to the extent originally expected, accounting for 0.6 percent of IFC's net profit. IEG found that the GTFP has particular additionality among higher-risk countries. In its early years, it was concentrated in these countries, particularly in Africa. During the global crisis, the program risk-mitigation instrument became relevant in much broader markets. Client feedback on the program has been positive. In its evaluation IEG does offer several recommendations to enhance its effectiveness, including on issues of transparency and reporting methods, as well as expanding the share of the program in needier markets. For development professionals, the lessons in this evaluation can be applied to private sector development situations, particularly mitigation of financing risks in emerging markets.

This evaluation assesses the strategies, investment projects, and technical assistance operations of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) from Fiscal Year 1994 - Fiscal Year 2005 to support micro, small and medium size enterprises (MSMEs) in frontier countries (i.e., low income or high risk countries). The confluence of two IFC strategic priorities - support for MSMEs and support for enterprises in frontier countries - serves as the point of departure of the evaluation. This timely report will find widespread interest among economic development practitioners in finding sustainable business models for providing financial support to micro-enterprises. It includes an evaluation of the performance of the MSME-FIs in implementing IFC's environmental, health, social and safety (ESHS) requirements.

The West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) regional securities market saw increasing activity in the last decade, but still fell short of supplying sufficient long-term financing for growth-enhancing public and private investment projects. In addition to providing an institutional background, this paper studies recent developments and the determinants of interest rates on the market-using yield curve and principal component analyses. It also identifies challenges and prospective reforms that could help the region reap the full benefits of a more dynamic securities market and assesses the potential systemic risk the market may pose for the region's banking system.

This evaluation assesses the performance of IFC’s energy efficiency finance program in China aimed at stimulating energy efficiency investments through bank guarantees and technical assistance. The difference made by the program is traced along the chain of interventions: (i) at the level of banks, the program is narrowly based on one of the two partner banks, which, with the help of the program, expanded its energy efficiency lending as a new business line; (ii) at the level of energy management companies, the program’s technical assistance improved the program participants’ access to finance; and (iii) at the end-user level, it promoted the use of energy efficiency investments that achieved reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The utilization of IFC’s program has been rapid compared with other similar programs. The energy efficiency investments supported by the program have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 14 million CO2 tons per year, slightly in excess of the target set at the beginning of the program. However, there is only a weak differentiation in behavior surrounding energy efficiency investment between end users supported by the program and other similar companies that were not. It is important to note that the performance of the program was heavily influenced by the government’s policy actions and the earlier efforts of other players: The Chinese government and other players such as the World Bank. The CHUEE program, relying mainly on commercial funding through IFC’s guarantees, builds on these efforts.

In 2006, the World Bank's private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), introduced eight Environmental and Social Performance Standards (PSs) to define IFC clients’ responsibilities for managing their environmental and social risks, including those related to cultural heritage. Since their introduction, the PSs have evolved into a de facto global standard that other development banks and many private sector banks, insurers, and development proponents have voluntarily adopted to help manage their own risk exposure. Although the widespread adoption of such policies can be viewed positively as a reflection of good governance, the PSs were never designed with this purpose in mind. This article traces the development of cultural heritage policy within the World Bank Group, then critically examines the IFC PSs as they relate to cultural heritage, drawing attention to the elements in need of revision to better reflect internationally recognized good practice for the management of cultural heritage. Equally important, we recommend the development and implementation of a bespoke cultural heritage framework for the private sector. En 2006, la división crediticia del sector privado del Banco Mundial, la Corporación Financiera Internacional (IFC), incorporó ocho estándares de desempeño (PS) ambiental y social para definir las responsabilidades de los clientes de la IFC a la hora de gestionar sus riesgos ambientales y sociales, incluso aquellos relacionados con el patrimonio cultural. Desde su incorporación, los PS evolucionaron hasta convertirse en un estándar global de facto que adoptaron voluntariamente otros bancos de desarrollo y muchos bancos del sector privado, compañías aseguradoras y defensores del desarrollo para poder gestionar su propia exposición al riesgo. Si bien podemos considerar que el lado positivo de la adopción generalizada de dichas políticas es que refleja una buena conducción, el diseño de los PS jamás tuvo en cuenta este propósito. El presente artículo recorre el desarrollo de la política de patrimonio cultural dentro del Grupo Banco Mundial y luego realiza un examen crítico de los PS de la IFC en relación con el patrimonio cultural, haciendo hincapié en los elementos que es preciso revisar para poder reflejar mejor la buena práctica con reconocimiento internacional que se emplea para gestionar el patrimonio cultural. Con igual importancia, recomendamos elaborar e implementar un marco del patrimonio cultural hecho a medida para el sector privado.

Taiwan has been actively advancing offshore wind energy, with significant progress in deep-sea and large-scale turbine development. However, this growth poses challenges to coastal fishery communities, particularly regarding the protection of fishery rights and livelihoods. This study employs the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework to evaluate the impact of offshore wind farm (OWF) on fishery rights in Taiwan. Through an extensive literature review, we identify key indicators influencing fishery rights within the OWF context. To ensure a comprehensive analysis, expert surveys from diverse fields provide additional insights into these impacts. By aligning our findings with international frameworks, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards (PS) and the Equator Principles (EP), this research underscores the significance of integrating both local concerns and global standards in OWF development. In the lifecycle of long-term, large-scale OWF projects, PS1 of the IFC PS is the most widely applicable standard, whereas P2, P4, P5 and P9 of the EP plays a central role in ensuring compliance and operational efficiency. This study uniquely integrates local fishery rights into global frameworks, bridging regional socio-economic concerns with international sustainability standards—a novel approach to balancing offshore wind development with community interests. Ultimately, this research emphasizes the importance of balancing renewable energy advancement with the preservation of fishery rights.

In Jam v. International Finance Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court held that the International Organizations Immunities Act of 1945 (IOIA) affords international organizations (IOs) the same immunity from suit in U.S. courts that foreign governments currently enjoy under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA), which codifies the restrictive theory of foreign sovereign immunity. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) had argued that the IOIA, which grants international organizations the “‘same immunity’ from suit … ‘as is enjoyed by foreign governments’” (p. 15), should be understood to provide international organizations with absolute immunity, which it argued foreign governments enjoyed prior to the United States’ explicit adoption of the restrictive theory in 1952. Under the restrictive theory, a foreign state is immune from suit for its sovereign acts (acta jure imperii), but not for its commercial acts (acta jure gestionis). By interpreting language in the IOIA as granting the “same immunity” to international organizations as foreign governments enjoy at the time the suit is filed, the Supreme Court aligned the regime for IO immunity with that of foreign state immunity, except in cases where the IO's founding charter provides a different rule or where the executive branch has explicitly limited immunity. It remains to be seen what IO activities are deemed “commercial” under this regime and what types of transactions are found to have a sufficient nexus to the United States to fall within the FSIA's commercial-activity exception.

Effective stakeholder engagement is vital for the success of community education projects to secure funding from philanthropic organisations or government bodies, and is often used as a measure of success in reports. Online services such as websites, digital media engagement, and social media platforms can be utilised to engage with stakeholders who are geographically dispersed. This discussion is framed by key components of stakeholder engagement and how they contribute to successful projects concerning the stakeholder-based project management model. The discussion uses these tools to view how an exemplar online community education research project engaged with stakeholders, applying dialogic communications theory as a lens. The benefits and challenges of these services are discussed and situated within the literature.

A year ago, in Jam v International Finance Corporation, fishing and farming families from rural India achieved a historic US Supreme Court victory over one of the world’s largest financial institutions. The Supreme Court decided that the World Bank Group, and similar international organizations, do not automatically enjoy ‘absolute’ immunity from suit, but instead can be sued under the same circumstances as foreign governments can be sued in United States (US) courts – including suits based on their commercial activities in the US.