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September 4, 2007
HIGHLIGHTS FULL CONTENTS 
 World Bank Group Increases its Support to East Asia
The World Bank Group committed loans, grants and credits worth $US4.3 billion for development projects and operations in 10 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region during fiscal year 2007. This was more than $600 million over the previous year, reflecting the stronger economic performance of most countries in the region.
Jim Adams, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, said while continuing to work with governments on reducing poverty, the region was also scaling up its support for operations aimed at addressing climate change and the growing demand for clean energy.
Also: Video: Interview with Vice President Jim Adams | Last Environment Monitors in the Region
Bank President Visits East Asia
The Bank's new President, Robert B. Zoellick, went on his first official trip. His visit included stops in Australia, to attend the meeting of APEC Finance Ministers and meet Australian leaders; Cambodia and Vietnam, where he joined local Bank staff to see first hand the challenges facing two countries at very different stages of development; and Japan, for talks with a major shareholder and host of the G8 next year. The trip complemented a visit that Zoellick made last month to Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Latin America, as a nominee to the Bank post, to listen and learn how the Bank can play a more effective role in promoting global development.
Zoellick on Cambodia's Challenges
Video: Robert Zoellick in Cambodia (Windows Media)
Vietnam Striving to Become Middle-Income Country, World Bank President Says
First Official Visit to Japan by New World Bank President
Garment Sector Competes and Thrives in Cambodia
Cambodia’s garment industry is the country’s main industry and its leading export revenue earner. In 2006, exports totaled US$2.5 billion and the sector employed 330,000 mostly poorer rural women, who in turn support extended families. In total, an estimated 1.7 million people depend on the garment industry directly or indirectly.
Cambodia: Local Bank Provides Hope to Thousands of Potential Micro-Entrepreneurs
Since 1993, ACLEDA Bank has grown from a small NGO into one of Cambodia’s largest commercial banks and the only bank targeting poorer entrepreneurs. Across Cambodia, ACLEDA has 166 branches in all 24 provinces and although it is now a fully licensed bank, ACLEDA still specializes in lending to artisans, shop keepers, market traders and other micro and small entrepreneurs. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is the private sector arm of the World Bank, has played an important role, along with other development agencies, in helping ACLEDA Bank grow into what Moody’s Investors Service rates as one of Cambodia’s best managed banks.
Land Titles Give Cambodians a Stake in their Country
With support from the World Bank-financed Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP), the Cambodian Government is issuing more than 20,000 land titles a month, mostly in rural areas, with 80 percent of the titles registered jointly by wife and husband or by female-headed households. The LMAP project is designed to improve land tenure security and promote the development of efficient land markets.
Infrastructure Services Help Improve Quality of Life of Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam
Ethnic minority communities are the focus of a US$50 million IDA credit which aims to strengthen the results of a major poverty-targeted program of the Government of Vietnam. The operation supports policy and institutional improvements in the way the government program is designed and implemented. Known as "Program 135," this program supports socio-economic development in around 1,644 of the country's poorest communes and 2,500 poorest villages, through a combination of rural infrastructure, production and livelihood-enhancing services, and institutional capacity building.
Videos:
The World Bank in Cambodia (Windows Media)
Vietnam Electricity Project (Windows Media)
Vietnam: Northern Mountains Project (Real Player) World Bank Group Extends Current Assistance Strategy for the Philippines Through 2009
The World Bank Group, in agreement with the Philippine Government decided to extend to June 2009 its current Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) which was originally planned to end in June 2008. The CAS, originally for July 2005 to June 2008, was formulated to respond to the Government's development agenda and its preference to rely more on official development assistance (ODA) over commercial borrowing, because of lower costs and its potential to promote key reforms.
New Approaches to Improve Quality of Loan Portfolio in the Philippines
A major finding of a joint portfolio review of the Philippine government and the World Bank finds that new approaches to lending, project innovations, and actions toward addressing implementation bottlenecks are expected to improve not only the disbursement rate of World Bank loans but also the quality of the World Bank's assistance to the Philippines. Indonesia's Supermarket Boom Offers New Opportunity for Traditional Markets & Farmers
Modern retailing and supermarkets are booming in Indonesia, growing at 20 percent a year since the lifting of restrictions in 1998. In fact, they now account for 30 percent of the food retail business. The national output of fresh fruits and vegetables has doubled to US$10 billion from 1994-2004 and is increasingly reflected in changing patterns of food consumption. Indonesians consumption of fresh produce was 50 percent of their of expenditure on rice in 1994, it rose to increased to 75 percent in 2004 and, in urban areas, it now stands at 100 percent. i.e. urban Indonesians, are spending the same amount of money on rice as they are on fresh fruit and vegetables. Nearly all of this produce is home grown and while imports have nearly tripled over the last decade, they still account for only 3 percent domestic consumption.
More Bank news at www.worldbank.org/news Back to top
Nias Island Public Expenditure Analysis
The island group of Nias in Indonesia has consistently registered lower development outcomes than both provincial and national averages. This report suggests that low levels of public spending have contributed to below average development outcomes for Nias’s population of 720,000. Three events in recent years have dramatically altered public expenditure in Nias Island.
Back to top The enabling environment for social accountability in Mongolia
This study analyzes the conditions that influence the ability of citizens and their organizations to promote accountability of public institutions in Mongolia, identifies priority areas for policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional reforms to improve these conditions, and identifies areas in which the capacity building of civil society organizations and the Government of Mongolia may be promoted to enhance social accountability for improved governance, social and economic development, and poverty reduction. For purchase: Clean Development Mechanism in China
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was created to enable industrialized countries to meet their greenhouse gas reduction targets by buying emission reduction certificates from investments in greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in developing countries. China is seen as the most attractive host country for CDM in the future; however, it has to develop a large portfolio of CDM projects in order to capitalize on its potentials. This publication reviews the application of CDM in China and estimates China/s share in the international carbon market.
More Bank publications and reports at www.worldbank.org/reference
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Cambodia Protects Cultural Heritage Through the Kampong Kdei Bypass on National Road No. 6
Two of Cambodia’s provinces, Siem Reap and Kompong Thom are connected by the country’s National Road No. 6, parts of which date from the 12th - 13th Century. Recent rehabilitation activities drew attention to the need for Cambodia to protect these unique cultural assets from increasing vehicle and heavy traffic. With a view to preserve the authenticity and historical value of the ancient bridges, the Authority for the Protection ad Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap permitted the government to build 10 bypasses with new bridges around minor ancient bridges and a 1.3 km Kampong Kdei bypass and new bridge to divert traffic off the ancient bridges and onto the new bypasses. New and revised project information documents: Indonesia - GPOBA W3 - Expanding Piped Water Supply to Surabaya's Urban Poor
Indonesia - Infrastructure DPL
Philippines - Bicol Power Restoration
Vietnam - Hanoi Urban Transport Development
Vietnam - Renewable Energy Development For more information on projects and programs, visit http://www.worldbank.org/projects Back to top 
High-Level Forum on Lao-Thai Partnership in Sustainable Hydropower Development
September 7
Bangkok, Thailand
his event, supported by the World Bank, will allow both sides to share experiences from past projects in order to increase the quality of investment in future projects, so that ultimately all stakeholders benefit, and economic, environmental as well as social impacts are mitigated.
World Bank Group - International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings
October 20-22, 2007
The Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (Fund) and World Bank Group (Bank) normally meet once a year in the autumn for a two-day plenary session to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings are preceded by the ministerial-level meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's policy-guiding body, and the Development Committee, a joint IMF-World Bank forum.
Sr. Water and Sanitation Specialist
Hanoi, Vietnam
Application deadline: September 7 Environmental Specialist
Beijing, China
Application deadline: September 11 Operations Officer - Agriculture & Rural Development
Ulanbaatar, Mongolia
Application deadline: September 16 Operations Officer - Education
Ulanbaatar, Mongolia
Application deadline: September 16 For a full list of open positions and scholarships http://www.worldbank.org/jobs Back to top
 Bank RSS Feeds
The Bank is introducing RSS feeds, giving you another way of keeping informed of what's new at the Bank. The current RSS feeds are classified by region and country and include the latest news, project information and documents. Bank Blog Turns Two
The Bank's Private Sector Development Blog (PSD Blog) marked its second anniversary last week. The blog gathers together news, resources and ideas about the role of private enterprise in fighting poverty. Popular posts over the last year have covered issues such as mobile phone banking, special economic zone, and attracting portfolio investment in Africa. Back to top
The Bank and the Environment
Concern for the environment is viewed by many as a rich-country luxury. It is not. Natural and man-made environmental resources - fresh water, clean air, forests, grasslands, marine resources, and agro-ecosystems - provide sustenance and a foundation for social and economic development. Today, the Bank is one of the key promoters and financiers of environmental upgrading in the developing world. It recognizes that sustainable development, which balances economic development, social cohesion, and environmental protection, is fundamental to the Bank’s core objective of lasting poverty reduction. Back to top | 
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