World Bank’s IFC names country manager for Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei
THE International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s investment arm, has appointed Katia Daude Gonçalves as country manager for Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, it said on Tuesday (Nov 14).
She will work with IFC’s regional investment and advisory teams to drive cross-border investments and capital mobilisation between Singapore-based companies and financial institutions in emerging markets. In Malaysia and Brunei, she will help build the IFC’s nascent presence and develop investment and advisory opportunities in both markets.
“A clear similarity that all three (countries) share is the strength and potential of their private sectors to help address key development challenges both at home and in emerging and developing markets abroad,” Daude Gonçalves said.
Kim-See Lim, IFC’s regional director for East Asia and the Pacific, said the Singapore ecosystem has been a vital enabler of IFC’s investment programme in Asia and the Pacific, and globally.
The appointment comes after IFC’s recent entry into Malaysia, where its strategic priorities are to enhance productivity through innovation and digitalisation. It has since built a pipeline of potential investments in the country that align with its strategic priorities, IFC said.
World Bank opened its Singapore office in 1999, which is now the international financial institution’s largest globally. Following an agreement in 2011, representatives from IFC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agencyjoined the office to strengthen its private sector engagement.
Brunei, meanwhile, joined the IFC in 2021 and is part of various regional and international organisations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the United Nations.
IFC said it has committed US$1.2 billion in the last fiscal year across 18 projects with Singapore-linked clients and partners. FY2023 projects include work with CapitaLand Ascott Trust, Agrocorp International, Entobel, Enterprise Singapore, Standard Chartered and YCH Group, it said.
Since 2011, the World Bank’s investment arm has committed more than US$7.5 billion across over 150 deals to support Singapore-linked clients in their expansion to emerging and developing markets.
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