MIGA's Executive Vice President Visits Kuwait and the Gulf

MIGA’s Executive Vice President Visits Kuwait and the Gulf
Trip to Encourage Private Sector Investment to Boost Regional Growth and  Jobs
View the press release in Arabic

Washington, April 5, 2012—Izumi Kobayashi, Executive Vice President of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group—will visit  Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates from April 7-17.  The purpose of the visit is to raise awareness about the importance of private sector investment as a tool for growth and jobs, while sharing knowledge about MIGA’s risk mitigation instruments.She will meet with government officials, national investment authorities, chambers of commerce, banks, and private sector representatives.

Kobayashi's visit comes at a critical time for the region. With the civil unrest that unfolded last year, the region’s prospects for attracting investment suffered a setback.  This has been exacerbated by economic uncertainty in Europe—traditionally a strong source of investment into MENA.

The need for investments in the region that create jobs and opportunity is greater than ever:  the World Bank notes that close to 40 million new private sector jobs need to be created over the next decade to provide opportunities for a growing, young, and increasingly educated workforce.  Kobayashi notes, "Many of the countries in the region, with reforms, could achieve much higher rates of growth, and faster creation of new jobs.  But that will not happen without a much faster increase in private investments. "

To demonstrate MIGA’s commitment to MENA, last year the agency announced it had mobilized $1 billion in insurance capacity precisely to retain and encourage foreign direct investment (FDI) into the region. Part of MIGA’s efforts to promote investment in MENA also includes awareness-raising events and visits, like Kobayashi's current April trip.

Kobayashi notes, "In this riskier world, we must maintain and augment FDI to create jobs and boost development outcomes. Many of the countries on my itinerary are key players in intra-regional investment. Our collective aim should be to ensure that investors, private equity funds, and banks can more confidently enter riskier environments—providing a powerful example for others to follow."

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MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT GUARANTEE AGENCY
A Member of the World Bank Group
1818 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20433

MIGA Contact:
Mallory Saleson, MIGA
Tel: +1 202 473-0844
E-mail: msaleson@worldbank.org

Rebecca Post, MIGA
Tel: +1 202-473-1964
E-mail: rpost@worldbank.org

Cara Santos Pianesi
Tel: +1.202.458.2097
E-mail: csantospianesi@worldbank.org