IBRD

IDA

IFC

MIGA

ICSID

The World Bank, with a mission to fight poverty and improve living standards for people in the developing world, is among the world’s leading development institutions. It provides loans, policy advice, technical assistance, and knowledge-sharing services. IBRD and IDA—together the "World Bank"—are owned by member countries that carry ultimate decisionmaking power. The World Bank Group today consists of five closely associated institutions.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Established 1945 183 Members Cumulative lending: $360 billion Fiscal 2001 lending: $10.5 billion for 91 new operations in 36 countries

IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries by promoting sustainable development, through loans, guarantees, and nonlending—including analytical and advisory—services. IBRD does not maximize profit but has earned a net income each year since 1948. Its profits fund several developmental activities and ensure financial strength, which enables low-cost borrowings in capital markets, and good terms for borrowing clients. Owned by member countries, IBRD links voting power to members’ capital subscriptions—in turn based on a country’s relative economic strength.

The International Development Association
Established 1960 162 Members Cumulative lending: $127 billion Fiscal 2001 lending: $6.8 billion for 134 new operations in 57 countries

Contributions to IDA enable the World Bank to provide $6–7 billion per year in interest-free credits to the world’s 78 poorest countries, home to 2.4 billion people. This support is vital because these countries have little or no capacity to borrow on market terms. In most of these countries incomes average under just $500 a year per person, and many people survive on much less. IDA helps provide access to better basic services (such as education, health care, and clean water and sanitation) and supports reforms and investments aimed at productivity growth and employment creation.

The International Finance Corporation
Established 1956 175 Members Committed portfolio: $21.8 billion (Includes syndicatons, $14.3 billion for own account.) Fiscal 2001 commitments: $3.9 billion (Includes syndicatons, $2.7 billion for own account.) in 205 companies for 74 countries

IFC’s mandate is to further economic development through the private sector. Working with business partners, it invests in sustainable private enterprises in developing countries and provides long-term loans, guarantees, and risk management and advisory services to its clients. IFC invests in projects in regions and sectors underserved by private investment and finds new ways to develop promising opportunities in markets deemed too risky by commercial investors in the absence of IFC participation.

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency
Established 1988 154 Members Cumulative guarantees issued: $9.1 billion Fiscal 2001 guarantees issued: $2 billion

MIGA helps encourage foreign investment in developing countries by providing guarantees to foreign investors against losses caused by noncommercial risks, such as expropriation, currency inconvertibility and transfer restrictions, and war and civil disturbances. Furthermore, MIGA provides technical assistance to help countries disseminate information on investment opportunities. The agency also offers investment dispute mediation on request.

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
Established 1966 134 Members Total cases registered: 87 Fiscal 2001 cases registered: 12

ICSID helps to encourage foreign investment by providing international facilities for conciliation and arbitration of investment disputes, in this way helping to foster an atmosphere of mutual confidence between states and foreign investors. Many international agreements concerning investment refer to ICSID’s arbitration facilities. ICSID also has research and publishing activities in the areas of arbitration law and foreign investment law.