WBG Equitable Growth, Finance & Institutions Development Partners Forum

Forum Opening

Against current development challenges, this overview will focus on how EFI and development partners are working together to tackle shared priorities.  

Speaker: Ceyla Pazarbasioglu, Vice President EFI Global Practice

Session 1: Trade, Investment, and Competitiveness for Development

The 2020 WDR on Global Value Chains lays out a vision and a framework for countries to continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty by leveraging trade and GVCs to connect firms with markets.

This session will connect the WBG’s work on trade, investment, and competitiveness to development impact and the jobs and economic transformation (JET) agenda. Using the WDR lens, it will highlight EFI’s holistic approach to tackling challenges constraining private sector development at various levels: international trade and investment, national investment, competition, and innovation agenda, industry (or market)-level issues, and firm capabilities and entrepreneurship. The session will also share examples of innovative WBG interventions in these areas and engage participants in a discussion on promising areas for future activities and cooperation.

Questions & Answers

Speakers: Caroline Freund, Global Director for Trade, Investment & Competitiveness

Session 2: The Role of the Financial Sector in Maximizing Finance for Development (MFD)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) require a new approach that leverages the private sector in ways that optimize the use of scarce public resources to achieve the goals of ending extreme pover­ty and boosting shared prosperity. To achieve the levels of private sector investment needed, countries will need to build sound, stable, diversified, and inclusive financial sectors. The session will highlight the WB and IFC’s joint approach in this area, with an emphasis on long-term finance.

Questions & Answers

Speaker: Alfonso Garcia Mora, Global Director for Finance

Session 3: Financing Sustainable Climate-Friendly Development

Low-income countries and emerging market economies need to step up investment in infrastructure and human capital to converge to income levels of richer countries. This will require better management of financial liabilities, greater capacity to mobilize resources, and close attention to the side-effects of economic development to sustain higher income levels. The session will showcase WBG work in the areas of debt policies and capacity building on debt management, growth-friendly programs to increase tax-to-GDP ratios, and fiscal policies for climate action, including work on insurance mechanisms to alleviate risks from climate shocks.

Questions & Answers

Speaker: Marcello Estevão, Global Director for Macroeconomics & Fiscal Policy

Session 4: Making Inclusive Growth a Reality

Despite unprecedented gains in poverty reduction over the last two decades, progress has been uneven, with Sub-Saharan Africa trailing, and the pace is slowing. Highlighting the latest poverty and inequality trends, this session will discuss what it will take to promote inclusive growth and meet the goal of extreme poverty eradication by 2030. Examples will showcase countries that have succeeded in reducing extreme poverty and promoting broad-based economic growth, offering lessons on the way forward, including on gender inequality and for fragile and conflict affected countries.

Questions & Answers

Speaker: Carolina Sanchez-Páramo, Global Director for Poverty & Equity

Session 5: Governance and Institutions: Delivering Better Outcomes for All

Capable, effective, accountable, transparent and inclusive institutions are essential to delivering citizen-centric services, facilitating private-sector growth, and building trust in government. With the rapid pace of change, the ability of governments to respond is stretched while citizen expectations continue to rise, resulting in an increasing deficit in trust. It has become critical to put the role of institutions back at the center of the development debate. IDA 19 commitments highlight the need to respond to emerging global priorities while ensuring strong core government functions. This session will discuss the key strategic priorities of governance and highlight important governance initiatives to achieve the World Bank’s twin goals, IDA 19 and beyond.     

Questions & Answers

Speakers: Edward Olowo-Okere, Global Director for PS & FM, Governance; Vinay Sharma, Global Director for Procurement, Governance

Bringing It All Together: How EFI Delivers Country Results with Partners

This session will explore how EFI’s complementary approaches work together to implement multi-sectoral solutions to complex development challenges. Examples from several countries demonstrate how EFI and development partners are working together effectively to deliver country-level results.

Questions & Answers

Speakers: Panel of Regional Directors 

09:00-10:00

Session One

1a. How to Detect Program Impact in Real Time. This session will showcase innovative and cost-effective methods and tools, such as real-time data collection, that EFI is piloting to assess the impact of projects and programs on reducing poverty and improving shared prosperity. Learn how these exciting new ideas are creating important feedback loops for greater development effectiveness – particularly in fragile or conflict-affected countries where traditional methods are not feasible.

Speaker: Carolina Sanchez-Páramo, Global Director for Poverty & Equity

09:00-10:00

Session One

1b.  Reinvigorating the Fight Against Corruption as a Development Priority. The international community has put in place a complex, global architecture supporting the fight against corruption However, continuous changes to the global financial system present unique and greater challenges in the fight against corruption and require different approaches. New technologies and opportunities for moving funds internationally have developed rapidly, facilitating international business, but also facilitating the hiding of the flows of illicit proceeds. This session will discuss this evolving context and provide an overview of new approaches for detecting and deterring corruption.

Speaker: Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, Senior Advisor

10:30-11:30

Session Two

2a. GovTech: Bringing Governments into the 21^st Century.  The session will examine how the GovTech Global Partnership (GTGP) is promoting the use of technology to transform the public sector and improve governance outcomes. The focal areas include service delivery, citizen engagement, and modernizing core operations for efficiency, transparency and accountability. Special topics will focus on universal access of technological solutions in light of the IDA19 commitment on accessible GovTech, gender, and developing ecosystems. 

Speaker: Kimberly Johns, Senior Public Sector Specialist

10:30-11:30

Session Two

2b. Female Entrepreneurship: New and Emerging Opportunities. EFI’s contribution is critical to reaching the WBG’s goals with respect to women’s jobs and assets, as well as strengthening voice and agency. The session will highlight EFI’s approach to tackling gender challenges in support of female entrepreneurship and provide examples of innovative projects and their relevance to the Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) agenda. It will engage participants in a discussion on promising areas for future activities and cooperation, including: access to markets and finance; strengthening entrepreneurial skills and support ecosystems; use of digital services; improving institutional and regulatory frameworks. 

Speakers: Jana Malinska, Program Manager, We-Fi 
               Anja Robakowski-Van Stralen, Analyst, EFI Gender Team 
               Margaret Miller, Lead Financial Sector Economist

10:30-11:30

Session
Two

2c. Intensifying our Focus on Fragility, Conflict, and Violence: The WBG is issuing a new strategy for engagement in FCVs, which will receive increased attention by IDA19. This session will explore how EFI is intensifying engagement in FCVs through rebuilding institutions and core functions of the state in post-conflict situations.

Speakers: Nabila Assaf, Practice Manager 
               Jean Denis Pesme, Practice Manager 
               Abebe Adugna Dadi, Practice Manager

2d. Avoiding the Growth Slowdown. Robust potential growth remains the foundation for lasting poverty reduction. Yet, long term trends in fundamental growth drivers are such that most emerging markets and developed economies (EMDEs) face the prospects of slowing potential growth over the next decade. Several policy options are available to stem this slowdown.

Speakers: Ayhan Kose, Director, Prospects Group 
               Franziska Ohnsorge, Manager, Prospects Group

11:30-12:30

Session
Three

3a. Addressing Debt Vulnerabilities. This session will discuss debt management, debt transparency and fiscal risk engagements and provide evidence of the results from related trust funded activities.

Speaker: Doerte Doemeland, Practice Manager

11:30-12:30

Session
Three

3b. Procurement and the Changing Landscape of Development. Opportunities and challenges for comprehensive country reforms, FCV contexts and driving economic impact.

Speaker: Vinay Sharma, Global Director for Procurement, Governance

11:30-12:30 

Session Three

3c. Scaling up Long-term Finance via Capital Markets. This session will cover main initiatives in course and under discussion to integrate WBG advisory and operations to capital markets solutions involving both domestic and foreign institutional investors. These initiatives seek the scaling up of financing especially for sustainable financing and in strategic sectors such as infrastructure and housing. This session will also cover highlights from on the ground experience with the WBG JCAP program.

Speaker: Anderson Silva, Practice Manager, Long-term Finance

11:30-12:30

Session
Three

3d. Advancing Financial Reporting, Transparency and Accountability. Effective financial reporting systems can help improve fiscal management and discipline, while fostering transparency and accountability. This can lead to improved macro-economic stability, enhanced delivery of public service delivery, and more efficient use of resources. This session will reflect on the lessons from countries that have implemented financial reporting reforms, both in the public and private sectors, and discuss the benefits of a Global Partnership for Advancing Financial Reporting, Transparency and Accountability in addressing these challenges.

Speakers: Fily Sissoko, Practice Manager 
               Adenike Sherifat Oyeyiola, Practice Manager

13:30-14:30

Session
Four

4a.  Disruptive Technologies. This session is an exploration of the latest thinking and new directions in the area of disruptive technology. We will look at what it will take to harness new technologies for inclusive development with a focus on FinTech, GovTech and digital platforms and entrepreneurship including CGAP linkages.

Speakers: Mary Hallward-Driemeier, Senior Economic Advisor 
               Martha Licetti, Practice Manager, Markets and Technology 
                Kimberly Johns, Senior Public Sector Specialist

CIIP Steering Committee

Host: Khaleda Atta, Senior Private Sector Specialist

Umbrella Trade Facility Steering Committee

Host: Ian Gillson, Lead Economist

MCICP Steering Committee

Host: Sanda Liepina, Program Manager, MCICP

Trade Facilitation Support Program Consultative Committee

Host: William Gain, Senior Private Sector Specialist

Scaling up the Fintech Agenda: A FIRST Initiative Deep Dive (presented jointly with the IMF).

According to the recently published, Bali Fintech Agenda, a joint paper of the World Bank and IMF, rapid advances in financial technology are transforming the economic and financial landscape, offering wide-ranging opportunities while raising potential risks. Fintech can support potential growth and poverty reduction by strengthening financial development, inclusion, and efficiency—but it may pose risks to consumers and investors and, more broadly, to financial stability and integrity.

This session, hosted by the FIRST Initiative, the WB and IMF’s global TA program on financial sector development, will include a deep dive discussion about the support it provides to client countries on regulatory reform, piloting new approaches, risks and challenges of emerging new technologies. Case studies and experiences to date will be featured in the session.

Speakers: Carlos Pinerua, Program Manager, FIRST 
                Yira Mascaro, Practice Manager, Financial Stability and Integrity

FIRST Governing Council Meeting

Host: Carlos Pinerua, Program Manager, FIRST

FIAS Full Day Steering Committee and Portfolio Review Day (IFC Building)

• IFC 3.0 and focus on Creating Markets approach
• Review of FIAS Annual Results
• Presentation of FIAS Mid-term Review and discussion of findings
• Portfolio review and project highlights
• Result measurement session
• Future FIAS Strategy and development partner emerging priorities

Host: Sanda Liepina, Program Manager, FIAS