World Bank Vice President for South Asia Visits Japan

Contacts:

In Washington: Mapi Buitano (1-202) 473-8417
mbuitano@worldbank.org

In Tokyo: Tomoko Hirai (81-3)3597-6650
thirai@worldbank.org

Tokyo, October 2, 2007 – World Bank South Asia Vice President, Praful Patel, visited Japan for two days during which he met senior government representatives, Parliamentarians, private sector representatives, senior development agency officials and other opinion leaders from the Japanese development community.  Mr. Patel was accompanied by Operations Director, Mr. John Roome, and the Country Directors for India and Sri Lanka, Ms Isabel Guerrero and Ms. Naoko Ishii.  This is the fifth such visit in the last three years.

“I am delighted to be back to Japan at a time when South Asia is becoming ever more prominent on Japan’s agenda.” Mr. Patel said, “South Asia’s rapid economic growth and progress in human development have raised the real possibility that the region could end mass poverty in a generation with the coordinated support of its development partners”. Patel said that “concessional finance from the World Bank and Japan is still critical to achieve this goal”.  He was encouraged by the close collaboration with Japanese agencies aimed at increasing growth and investment in the region.

Last year , the World Bank provided $5.6 billion in loans and grants to governments in the South Asia region for development projects designed to increase economic growth, reduce poverty, enhance social stability, protect the environment and improve governance. Mr. Patel also noted that this support is showing strong results on the ground.  In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, 8 million women have been able to use microfinance to lift their families out of poverty.  In Bangladesh universal primary education has now been achieved and the number of girls in secondary school has increased in the last 15 years from 1.1 million to 4 million, surpassing the number of boys for the first time.  In Afghanistan, 6 million more people have access to health care than in Taliban times, and the number of women receiving prenatal care has increased from 5% to over 70%. As a result 40,000 more babies survive each year.  At the same time 16,000 Afghan villages have elected village councils and have benefited from small infrastructure such as water supply and small roads.

Japan has been a valuable partner in achieving these and similar outcomes, both through its contributions to IDA, and through its bilateral programs.

At the same time South Asia’s rapid growth rates, large and growing middle class market (now almost 400 million people) and expanding potential supply of skilled labour, means that the region represents a significant and increasingly attractive business opportunity for Japanese companies. In the last four years, trade between India and Japan has more than doubled to $8.5bn and the number of Japanese companies present in India has also doubled to almost 500.  Discussions with the Japanese private sector during this visit provided the Bank team with valuable feedback that will be incorporated into its ongoing priority programs to improve the investment climate and infrastructure in South Asia.

Mr. Patel noted that there is now a strategic window of opportunity for Japan to further scale up its activities in South Asia, both bilaterally and through the Bank.  In addition to the humanitarian and commercial opportunities – such an increased engagement would bring benefits to Japan in terms of managing global public goods (such as mitigating climate change and the spread of disease such as SARS, Aids and Avian Flu) and through the increased security and reduced conflict that strong sustained development would bring to South Asia.

More specifically, Mr. Patel also called for Japan’s strong support for IDA 15, currently being negotiated by Japan and other donors- the International Development Association (IDA) is the largest window of global support for the world’s poorest countries, and 34% of IDA resources are directed to South Asia.  “Japan’s cooperation with the World Bank, particularly through the IDA, has contributed to progress in Asia and the poorest countries around the world.  The continuation of that generous support, and close collaboration between Japan and the Bank, will produce even greater real impact in South Asia’s poorest countries."