Modernising MultilateralismRobert B. Zoellick, President, The World Bank Group The Bank is working with all its clients on fundamental long-term investments to lay the foundations for recovery: especially infrastructure; safety net programmes to protect the poor; and financing for the private sector.I have explained to my colleagues how the Bank's drive to be faster, more flexible, and innovative for our clients can draw from the military's insight into tightening the "OODA loop" - the need to rapidly "Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act".The Bank Group emphasises free enterprise and the development of the private sector. This is an important evolution from the Bank's founding era.The financial crisis has not shaken developing countries' embrace of markets and the private sector. The vast majority of countries might not use Churchill's language, but they would generally agree with him that: "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." For developing countries, their compass points toward a relentless pragmatism: They are more interested in what works than in the debates that seem to paralyse many developed countries.The Bank's private sector development begins with public policies to strengthen the environment for investment, whether domestic or foreign, including through an educated, skilled, and healthy workforce. The Bank's "Doing Business" report helps countries assess how they compare with others in empowering entrepreneurs, especially smaller businesses.IFC, the Bank Group's private sector arm, invests in companies and financial enterprises that can support developing country businesses and 082 FINANCE AND INVESTMENT

" The Bank Group has raised over US$6 billion from governments for new climate investment funds "markets. For example, IFC is committing about US$3 billion through about 180 private equity funds to build markets through which investors can supply longer-term risk capital to owners of local companies. I am especially pleased that in 2010 IFC created a new Asset Management Company to supplement IFC's traditional model of raising money in bond markets and then investing it. The AMC taps sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors and channels investments to profitable opportunities identified by IFC. The venture opens up a completely new channel of financial intermediation. The AMC now totals over US$4 billion, almost US$3 billion of which had little previous exposure to Africa and other less recognised emerging markets.The World Bank group has sought to catalyse action on global needs, ranging from biodiversity and climate change to trade and financial markets, through a pragmatic, on-the-ground approach. Many of these issues relate to non-traditional threats to security. The Bank's comparative advantage is practical, problem-solving with developing country clients. Combining that relationship with new experience, tools, and partnerships enables the Bank, for example, to boost trade and lower costs through expediting customs, assisting with financing, getting goods to markets, and connecting producers to supply chains. The Bank Group has raised over US$6 billion from governments for new "climate investment funds" to help countries improve energy efficiency and technology, lower emissions, and protect against climate change. These funds have mobilised about US$50 billion worth of projects in 45 developing countries. As UN negotiators debate what a "Green Fund" might look like, the World Bank has one up and running.The Bank has brought financial innovation to bear on plans to develop medicines, protect wildlife, lower the costs of humanitarian food and supplies, and create natural disaster insurance. In Singapore, the Bank will help launch a new S-O-S partnership to Save Our Seas from overfishing, pollution, and deadzones.Promoting good governance and anti-corruption are an integral part of development. The best militaries do not rely just on force. They stress integrity, high standards, shared responsibility - and honour. When successful, they earn the trust of their members and their societies. When I arrived at the Bank in 2007, the Bank's anti-corruption work was mired in frustrations, suspicions, and conflict. An independent review panel, headed by former US Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker, provided an invaluable "wiring diagram" to enable the Bank's integrity staff to work more effectively with field operations, clients, donors, and the Bank's own Executive Board. Yet the Bank needs to do more than just investigate, prosecute, and penalise fraud and theft. We need to set standards, live them, and promote their broader adoption. In many resource-rich countries, the primary challenge is for the government to use income wisely, counter corruption, and broaden the benefits of growth. n AcknowledgementThe above remarks by Robert B. Zoellick are excerpted from Mr Zoellick's Stephen Roskill Memorial Lecture at Churchill College, University of Cambridge, on 22 February 2012. Source: The World Bank Group, www.worldbank.org.Pictured: Robert B. ZoellickFINANCE AND INVESTMENT 083