WB finance facility

Kathmandu, October 12:

The World Bank Group has launched a financing facility to provide a low-cost way for developing countries to share knowledge and expertise in overcoming poverty.

The South-South Experience Exchange Facility is a new multi-donor trust fund that promotes the idea that development successes in one country can pull people out of poverty in another.

“In their quest to accelerate growth and improve living standards, policy makers in the developing world are constantly in search of innovative ideas. They see the experiences of their counterparts in emerging economies as increasingly relevant,” said World Bank president

Robert B Zoellick.

Through the first grant from trust fund, efforts are underway to repeat India’s dairy revolution

in Africa.

India’s unique programme, known as ‘Operation Flood’, revolutionised its dairy industry. Once chronically short of milk, India is now the world’s largest producer of milk and dairy products. The Indian model has been introduced in Africa, with the South-South trust funding visits to India by Tanzanian dairy farmers and others from Ethiopia and Uganda.

“Countries learn best by seeing how others tackled similar issues. This initiative will help policy makers and others in low-income countries who can’t to wait indefinitely for support,” said Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Group managing director.

Seven donors — China, India, Mexico, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom — have already pledged support to the trust fund. Total contributions are expected to be $10 million over three years.

The scope of the trust fund is broad and intended to respond to direct requests from developing countries seeking knowledge. Its aim is to deepen South-South experiences by funding direct contact between developing countries, and through the creation of a web-based library of exchanges that will document, monitor and disseminate results, and distribute a roster of developing country experts.