FEATURE STORY September 15, 2021

World Bank in Malaysia

The World Bank has a long-standing relationship in Malaysia since its independence. Our partnership has evolved from development financing from the 1950s to the 1990s to leveraging the Bank's knowledge and research in it's current form of collaboration. In 2015, the Government invited the World Bank to open an office in Kuala Lumpur with a 5-year partnership under the Office Support Agreement (OSA) focused on disseminating Malaysia’s development experiences and policy innovations for the benefit of other countries; conducting original economic research; and sharing global experience and expertise in support of Malaysia’s development priorities. Today, the World Bank brands itself as an Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub - reflecting the development ambitions of Malaysia to achieve inclusive growth, greater shared prosperity and developed nation status; and to retain its global leadership role in the area of sustainable finance.

Our work with Malaysia consists of three core pillars:

Supporting Inclusive Growth
As Malaysia is projected to transition into a high-income economy in the next few years, ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth will be policy areas. In supporting the country’s shared prosperity agenda, our knowledge and research work encompassed areas of growth and inclusion, private sector competitiveness, and human capital development.

Promoting Sustainable and Islamic Finance
Sustainable finance has become an increasingly important tool to support Malaysia’s vision of shared prosperity while achieving sustainable development. Working with stakeholders, the World Bank continues its knowledge, technical assistance and research towards developing a sustainable, inclusive and resilient financial sector.

Strengthening Governance
Countries with strong institutions are more resilient, facilitate private sector growth, reduce poverty, deliver high-quality services, and earn the confidence of its citizens. Working towards enhancing these outcomes for Malaysia, we have continued developing new measures to improve public sector productivity, improve planning and fiscal management, and enhancing transparency in government institutions and operations.

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VIDEO Dec 07, 2022

The Value of Partnership - World Bank and Malaysia

Annual Report Financial Year 2021

The 2021 financial year was exceptional for the World Bank Group’s presence in Malaysia. It marked the beginning of our second phase of operations in Malaysia, from 2021 to 2025, as the World Bank Group Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub in Malaysia. Our Annual Report looks back at the key highlights and activities undertaken by the Hub in the past year. Please refer to the Annual Report to get to know the Malaysia work program.

Annual Report Financial Year 2020

2020 was a year of transition for the World Bank Group in Kuala Lumpur. Marking the end of its first five-year term of operations, the year saw the Hub prepare for its second phase of life in Malaysia as the World Bank Group Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Finance Hub. With the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to threaten Malaysia, the year was marked by a rapid response by the Hub towards supporting the Malaysian government and its people in addressing this global pandemic. Looking ahead, the Hub continued its preparation for Malaysia’s transition into a high-income economy. As a year in transition, our Annual Report looks back on our work in the first phase while looking ahead to the preparations for our second phase of operations.

Annual Report Financial Year 2019

The Hub continues to partner with and deliver policy reforms by developing new knowledge, carrying out research, and bringing in global expertise to develop policy recommendations and engage policymakers, industry, and academia. This fourth Annual Review Report lays out the progress achieved by the Hub during this critical period marked by change as well as continuity. The wide array of reports and publications, conferences, and discussions produced in the Hub are contributing results across various sectors in Malaysia and in lower- and middle-income countries, enhancing the evidence base for policymaking in Malaysia and improving the capacity of Malaysian institutions.