A book exhibition “International Finance Corporation: history and present day” timed to the 55 years from the foundation of the International Finance Corporation runs at the Documents of international organizations reading room (207g) from 12 July to 15 August.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international finance institute in the World Bank system. IFC incorporates 182 member countries which form corporate statutory fund of $2,4 billion, jointly define the IFC policy and adopt investment decisions. Though IFC coordinates its activities with other institutions belonging to the World Bank Group, the organization is financially and juridically independent. The IFC headquarter is located in Washington (the USA).
The major task of the International Finance Corporation is the assistance to sustainable investment flow to the private sector of developing countries with a view of reduction of poverty rate and improvement of standard of living in these countries. IFC carries out investment and advisory activity on a global scale. The efforts of IFC are aimed at realization in the member countries of the corporation of projects which are economically sound, financially and commercially reasonable, socially and ecologically efficient and aimed at maintenance of a sustainable development. IFC stimulates a sustainable development of the private sector through:
- financing of projects in the private sector of developing countries;
- assistance to private companies of developing countries in capital formation on international financial markets;
- provision of advisory and technical support to industries and governments.
The International Finance Corporation was created in post-war years when the economics of developing countries still remained at the earliest stages of their development, there was lack of human resources and no objects of infrastructure or reliable establishments capable to increase incomes and improve standard of living. Investments to the private sector were on a low level, and the question of their increase did not arise. Businessmen in these regions almost had no domestic capital sources, not to mention foreign sources. They needed support.
In 1951, president of the World Bank Eugene R. Black and vice-president Robert L. Garner suggested to create a new establishment in the World Bank system specially for investing of enterprises of the private sector. It was presumed that the corporation will allocate loans, participate in share capital of enterprises and provide experts for evaluation of investment offers for projects in the private sector of developing countries, performing the same work which the World Bank carried out in the field of the public sector. This idea was approved, and in 1955 experts of the World Bank drafted the project of the Constituent Agreement regulating activities of the International Finance Corporation. Officially IFC was founded in summer 1956, and Robert Garner headed it first. Today IFC is the major multilateral establishment granting loans and shared sponsorship for projects of the private sector in developing countries.
The Republic of Belarus is one of the first CIS member countries to sign corresponding agreements and to join the World Bank and its structures, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The total amount of IFC investments in the Republic of Belarus since the first investment project of the corporation (in 2004) makes actually about 250 million US dollars.
The subject book exhibition presents more than 50 documents in Russian and English: books, brochures, periodicals, booklets.
The exposition includes the following subject sections:
- The International Finance Corporation: history and present day;
- IFC major activities;
- IFC investment projects and programs in the Republic of Belarus.
The exhibition is designed for specialist sin finance, businessmen, researchers of small-scale business, students and professors teaching economic and finance disciplines.
Useful links:
- The International Finance Corporation
- The International Finance Corporation: in brief
- IFC Articles of Agreement
- The International Finance Corporation in the Republic of Belarus
- The World Bank Group
- The World Bank: history and present day (reading list)
- Belarus and the World Bank (reading list)
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