Worries about the world economy, and greater engagement with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund as they hold their Annual Meetings in Tokyo are some of the concerns raised by participants at the meetings. Here are a sample of their comments:  Continue Reading

By Zofeen Ebrahim

TOKYO, Oct 11 (TerraViva) – More empowerment of women in business is not only politically right, but makes good economic sense. Continue Reading

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim probably knew at the Wall Street Journal’s ‘The Big Interview’ at the WB-IMF Annual Meetings in Tokyo on Thursday that he would have to field some tough questions. Continue Reading

By Elaine Huang

TOKYO, Oct 11 (TerraViva) – Worries about ending up jobless. Political apathy. A very uncertain global economic picture.
Continue Reading

By Kunda Dixit*

TOKYO, Oct 11 (TerraViva) – The world may be in economic crisis, Asian growth may be stumbling, and Japan may be suffering a slowdown, but you wouldn’t be able to tell in glittering Tokyo this week as it hosts the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF. Continue Reading

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim reminded the media at a briefing in Tokyo on Thursday that he had completed 104 days in office, and in that time he was frightened by what he had learnt about what climate change was doing to food security  throughout the world. Continue Reading

TOKYO, Oct 10 – Transparency plays very important role in transforming a country’s resource wealth into other assets that support sustained development, said panelists at a discussion during the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings here.

“It is a very good idea if you get new revenue to be transparent from the very beginning,” said Clare Short, chair of the UK-based Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

She explained that it is important to inform the public about this from the start, before a government approves any company’s investment in any natural resource, so that people know what the contract is, what the taxation arrangement is, what the company saying to the states, how much it damages the environment and so forth.

The discussion on Wednesday afternoon was held against the backdrop of how resource-rich developing countries can transform their resource wealth into other assets that support sustainable development, while avoiding the boom-bust cycles that stem from volatility in natural resource revenues.

Maria Kiwanuka, Uganda’s minister of finance planning and economic development, agreed that  before companies are to extract and use any natural resource, this should be informed to the public and voted through the parliament system. “So the people and the parliamentarians know how much (revenue) is going into infrastructure spending, going into investment…,” she added. (Sam Rith)

The IMF’s Christine Lagarde says there has been a lot of talk, and now “it is time for action”. Continue Reading

By Suvendrini Kakuchi

SENDAI, Japan, Oct 10 (TerraViva) – The debris of the devastated Arahama elementary school yielded two enduring lessons for its principal, Takao Kawamura, in the months after the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan’s north-east coastland on Mar. 11, 2011. Continue Reading

GETTING UNDERWAY. The 2012 IMF-WB Annual Meetings is the main show in the Japanese capital this week, as attendees from governments, development institutions and civil society gather to discuss finance, development and trends. Have a look at various scenes around the city, the meeting venues and some of the early discussions around the Annual Meetings.

• Photo set - Day 1

  http://www.ips.org/TV/2012IMF-WBAnnualMeetings/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-gallery/vendors/timthumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/large.jpeg&w=540&h=330&q=100&a=t

• Photo set - Day 1

  http://www.ips.org/TV/2012IMF-WBAnnualMeetings/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-gallery/vendors/timthumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Rith1.jpg&w=540&h=330&q=100&a=t

• Photo set - Day 1

  http://www.ips.org/TV/2012IMF-WBAnnualMeetings/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-gallery/vendors/timthumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Rith2.jpg&w=540&h=330&q=100&a=t

• Photo set - Day 1

  http://www.ips.org/TV/2012IMF-WBAnnualMeetings/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-gallery/vendors/timthumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/photo-3.jpeg&w=540&h=330&q=100&a=t

• Photo set - Day 1

  http://www.ips.org/TV/2012IMF-WBAnnualMeetings/wp-content/plugins/slideshow-gallery/vendors/timthumb.php?src=wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/photo.JPG&w=540&h=330&q=100&a=t