Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA) Hosts 10th Anniversary Conference

Sustainable finance will be at the top of the agenda for policy makers, asset owners, fund managers, advisers and corporations from across the value chain when they meet in Hong Kong to explore common ground and mark a significant industry milestone at the ASrIA 10th Anniversary Conference on 28-29 September 2011, at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Hotel.

World Bank offers loans to entrepreneurs in Palestine

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The Riyadh-based International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is to give an SR11 million loan to support entrepreneurs and create jobs in the Palestinian territories.

“The World Bank is supporting micro and small businesses and encouraging job creation in the Palestinian territories through the loan to Palestine for Credit and Development — known as Faten — a leading microfinance institution,” said Walid Almurshed, head of IFC Saudi Arabia and Investment Principal in the Middle East, North Africa and East Europe.
Faten had more than 12,000 clients, of which 80 percent are women, and a total outstanding portfolio of SR90 million.
“With IFC’s help, Faten plans to reach 22,000 customers and develop a net outstanding portfolio of SR123 million by 2015,” Almurshed said.
IFC’s loan will help Faten expand its outreach in West Bank and Gaza, where 80 percent of employment is generated by micro, small and medium enterprises.

U.S. Says IMF, World Bank 'Vital' to Address Global Challenges

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are "vital for addressing the challenges of today and those that lie beyond the horizon," says U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, as the two world lenders convened in Washington for their annual spring meetings.

The organizations' "vital role in multiple and varied circumstances -- from fragile states to the global financial crisis; from security to climate change; and now to support historic transformations in the Middle East and North Africa -- underscore why these development banks are worthy of our strong support," Geithner said in a statement to the IMF and World Bank Group Development Committee Meeting April 16.

The committee released a communiqué after the meeting, which was held to discuss key global development issues, a main focus of the spring meetings.

IFC Report Finds Scope for Greater Sustainable Investment in Turkey

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Istanbul, Turkey. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, on March 25 published the first report measuring the amount of sustainable investment in Turkey. The report finds that while current volumes are small, there is scope for much greater sustainable investment in the country.

Sustainable investment in the Middle East and North Africa

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IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, on January 26 published the first report measuring the amount of sustainable investment in the Middle East and North Africa, The report found that while current volumes are small, there is scope for much greater sustainable investment in the region.

East Africa: Single Currency to Strengthen EAC Regional Economy

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PROSPECTS are rife that the envisaged single currency would act as an East African Community language, improving communications around the bloc.
Financial analysts say the currency would purge the current problems of speculation, instability and uncertainty, providing a strong foundation for the growing EAC economy.
The currency is further expected to significantly reduce cost and risk of doing business, regionally.
Other impacts of the single currency include promoting regional economic justice, creating fairness between countries as well as protecting the poor - petty traders in the borders in particular against the impacts of currency fluctuations.

Bulgaria Minister: Fed QE Move "Likely To Backfire"

ISTANBUL (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Federal Reserve's move to restart its bond-buying program to help spur disappointingly slow growth is likely to backfire and could compromise the resolve of European economies to continue their austerity drives, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Simeon Djankov said Thursday.
"This move is likely to backfire," Djankov said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. "In a period when Europe is going through fiscal consolidation, this may put at risk the resolve to return to sustainable public finances in developed economies. Even for the U.S., the benefits are probably smaller than the risk taken," he added.
Djankov, a former World Bank economist, has been Bulgaria's treasury chief since Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's center right GERB party swept to power in July 2009.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would commit to buy $600 billion of U.S. Treasurys over the next eight months, in a bid to bolster U.S. economic growth.
Bulgaria plunged into recession last year when the global economic slowdown scared away foreign investors and forced businesses to halt or significantly cut operations. The economy contracted 5% in 2009.
Rising exports helped the emerging economy out of recession in the second quarter of 2010, but a slow recovery in external demand and a sharp tightening in external commercial credit are likely to keep growth stagnant this year.
Djankov's comments come shortly after Turkey's Economy Minister Ali Babacan told reporters in Istanbul that the Fed's move could do more harm than good and leaves "serious questions marks over the dollar."

-By Joe Parkinson, Dow Jones Newswires, +44 78 1801 7453; joe.parkinson@dowjones.com