Singapore and the World Bank

Last updated
World Bank
FormationAugust 3, 1966
Type104th member
Legal statusMember of all World Bank Group Institutions
HeadquartersWorld Bank HQ: Washington, D.C., U.S.
Membership
IBRD, IFC, MIGA, IDA, and the ICSID
Key people
Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore Governor Andin Hadiyanto, Executive Director for Southeast Asia
Parent organization
World Bank Group
Website worldbank.org

Singapore officially joined the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) on August 3, 1966 [1] after Singapore's independence from Malaysia. By 1975, Singapore received 14 total loans from the World Bank, 10 of these loans were used exclusively for infrastructure projects. Currently, Singapore is a member of World Bank Group Institutions including International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), International Development Association (IDA), and the International Centre of Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). [1]

Contents

Infrastructure Projects

The Port of Singapore Expansion and Improvement Project

The first infrastructure project was the expansion of the Jurong Harbour in Singapore. The objective of the project was to help establish new real estate and satellite cities surrounding the area. [2] Estimated to cost S$14-million, the Jurong Port was completed in 1966. During this time, it was estimated that about 200-300 jobs were created. [3] Additionally, the harbour's expansion linked Singapore to international shipping lines.

Upon completion, the Jurong Port had 5 deep-water berths, stretching a total of 9,000 feet. These deep-water berths allowed the deepest ships to dock in port to provide the city with cargo and raw materials. [4] Additionally, the new berths helped increase port traffic significantly. The project was successful and, in 1969, the government began to draft new plans for the port. [3]

Current Agreements with the World Bank

Singapore: First Infrastructure and Urban Development Hub

In 2015, Singapore signed an agreement with the World Bank to establish the country as its first infrastructure and urban development hub. The operation will employ hundreds of new people over the next 2 years in both the World Bank and the private sector arms. The new hub will provide financing and services to developing economies with a focus on sustainable infrastructure and urban development. [5] Projects on the public sector side will be dedicated to sustainable energy, transport, information and communications technology, public-private partnerships, trade and competitiveness, and urban development as well as the global infrastructure facility. [6]

Singapore and Sustainability

Singapore is a member of the World Bank and it supports organizations including the Global Platform for Sustainable Cities. [7] This organization is funded by the Global Environment Facility and it helps cities to understand how sustainable they currently are and what they can improve upon. The GPSC focuses on projects in cities such as responses to climate change as well as eco-friendly public transportation GSPC. [8]

Singapore also works towards sustainability in the world by exchanging information with the World Bank. This information exchange happened when the World Bank and Singapore’s Infrastructure Asia signed an MoU. [7] Infrastructure Asia works on sustainability projects such as floating solar panels. [9]

There is also an MoU between the World Bank and Singapore’s Public Utilities Board. [7] Singapore’s PUB is the country’s water agency and it responds to the threat of sea levels rising. The organization is committed to using water in a sustainable way and it urges people to not waste water. The PUB also works to keep water clean and avoid water pollution. [10] Due to this partnership, the World Bank supports Singapore’s International Water Week for the years 2020, 2022, and 2024. [7] Singapore’s International Water Week is to show how the city is managing its water supply and teach attendees how they can better manage their own water supplies. [11]

The World Bank also partners with Singapore’s World Cities Summit. The goal of the World Cities Summit is to teach its attendees about how they can tackle sustainability issues in cities committed to eco-friendly movements. Singapore’s Centre for Liveable Cities and the Urban Redevelopment Authority help organize Singapore’s World Cities Summit. [12]

Related Research Articles

Transport within Singapore is mainly land-based. Many parts of Singapore, including islands such as Sentosa and Jurong Island are accessible by road. The other major form of transportation within Singapore is rail: the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) which runs the length and width of Singapore, and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) which runs within a few neighbourhoods. The main island of Singapore is connected to the other islands by ferryboat services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port</span> Maritime facility where ships may dock to load and discharge passengers and cargo

A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Infrastructure</span> Facilities and systems serving society

Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and private physical structures such as roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, water supply, sewers, electrical grids, and telecommunications. In general, infrastructure has been defined as "the physical components of interrelated systems providing commodities and services essential to enable, sustain, or enhance societal living conditions" and maintain the surrounding environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Singapore</span> Port in Singapore

The Port of Singapore refers to the collective facilities and terminals that conduct maritime trade, and which handle Singapore's harbours and shipping. It has been ranked as the top maritime capital of the world, since 2015. Currently the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also transships a fifth of the world's shipping containers, half of the world's annual supply of crude oil, and is the world's busiest transshipment port. It had also been the busiest port in terms of total cargo tonnage handled until 2010, when it was surpassed by the Port of Shanghai.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jurong Port</span>

Jurong Port Pte Ltd is a port operator headquartered in Singapore. Jurong Port, which operates the only multi-purpose port in Singapore, handles bulk, break-bulk and containerised cargo. It handled over 40,000 vessel-calls annually in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keppel Corporation</span> Singaporean conglomerate

Keppel Corporation is a Singaporean conglomerate headquartered in Keppel Bay Tower, HarbourFront. The company consists of several affiliated businesses that specialises in offshore & marine, property, infrastructure and asset management businesses.

Urban planning in Singapore is the direction of infrastructure development in Singapore. It is done through a three-tiered planning framework, consisting of a long-term plan to plot out Singapore's development over at least 50 years, a Master Plan for the medium term, and short-term plans, the first two of which are prepared by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and the last by multiple agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwadar Port</span> Deep-water seaport in Balochistan, Pakistan

The Gwadar Port is situated on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Balochistan province of Pakistan and is under the administrative control of the Maritime Secretary of Pakistan and operational control of the China Overseas Port Holding Company. The port features prominently in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, and is considered to be a link between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Maritime Silk Road projects. The Chinese share of revenue generated from Gwadar Port would be 91% while Pakistan will get 9% share. It is about 120 kilometres (75 mi) southwest of Turbat, and 170 kilometres (110 mi) to the east of Chabahar Port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Shanghai</span> Port in China

The Port of Shanghai, located in the vicinity of Shanghai, comprises a deep-sea port and a river port.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Gateway</span> Port in England

DP World London Gateway is a port within the wider Port of London, United Kingdom. Opened in November 2013, the site is a fully integrated logistics facility, comprising a semi-automated deep-sea container terminal on the same site as the UK's largest land bank for the development of warehousing, distribution facilities, and ancillary logistics services.

The World Cities Summit is an international conference series on public governance and the sustainable development of cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Dreiseitl</span>

Herbert Dreiseitl is a sculptor, artist, landscape architect and interdisciplinary urban planner. He founded the firm Atelier Dreiseitl in 1980 with a vision to develop liveable cities inspired by a deep understanding of water. In 2013 the studio was acquired by the Danish-based international consultancy group and continued under the name Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl. As of 2023 Dreiseitl's office is located in Überlingen, Germany, still a local affiliate of Ramboll. He has taught courses at the National University of Singapore and at Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Jebel Ali</span> Port in United Arab Emirates

Port of Jebel Ali, also known as Mina Jebel Ali, is a deep port located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Jebel Ali is the world's ninth busiest port, the largest man-made harbour, and the biggest and by far the busiest port in the Middle-East. Port Jebel Ali was constructed in the late 1970s to supplement the facilities at Port Rashid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Yangpu</span> Port in China

The Port of Yangpu is a seaport located within the Yangpu Economic Development Zone, Yangpu Peninsula, Hainan, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belt and Road Initiative</span> Chinas global infrastructure project

The Belt and Road Initiative, known within China as the One Belt One Road or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations. It is considered a centerpiece of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's foreign policy. The BRI forms a central component of Xi's "Major Country Diplomacy" strategy, which calls for China to assume a greater leadership role for global affairs in accordance with its rising power and status. It has been compared to the American Marshall Plan. As of January 2023, 151 countries were listed as having signed up to the BRI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Surbana Jurong</span> A subsidiary of Temasek holding

Surbana Jurong Private Limited is a Singaporean government-owned consultancy company focusing on infrastructure and urban development. It was formed in June 2015 with the merger of Surbana International Consultants and Jurong International Holdings. As of July 2016, it is wholly owned by Temasek Holdings and had 13,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China and the World Bank</span> Overview of the relationship between China and the World Bank

China originally joined the World Bank Group (WBG) on December 27, 1945. However, after the Chinese Civil War, the World Bank recognized the Republic of China as its member, until the relationship ended in 1980, when the membership was replaced by the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) did not become involved with the World Bank group until 1980, when it first joined the World Bank in April due to the market reforms known as reform and opening-up. Prior to the economic reform and its relation with the World Bank, according to CRS, "China maintained policies that kept the economy very poor, stagnant, centrally controlled, vastly inefficient, and relatively isolated from the global economy". Since its entry into the World Bank, China has transformed into a market-based economy and has experienced rapid economic and social development. Currently, although China has become the world's second largest economy with 1.4 billion population, it still has a close relationship with the World Bank in areas such as poverty, environmental protection and new challenges from the reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkey and the World Bank</span>

The World Bank Group (WBG) has been lending aid and providing means of promoting development to Turkey since July 1950, which began with the implementation of a series of port construction and development projects meant to ignite commercial economy and cultivate stability within the region. These established ports have been integral to the development and success of economic growth and stability throughout the republic as it is surrounded by water on three sides. Through the efforts and involvement by the WBG, Turkey has become one of the larger developing middle tier countries in regards to income associated with the group, as well as one of the most established economies around the globe today. From 1950 to 2017 the efforts championed by the World Bank in and around the extensive regions comprising the Republic of Turkey have been oriented towards environmental preservation, economic growth and stability, establishing infrastructure, promoting education and cultivating an interest in energy and sustainability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vietnam and the World Bank</span> Vietnams relationship with the World Bank

Vietnam joined the World Bank Group (WBG) on 21 September 1956. Before the mid-1980s, Vietnam was one of the world's least developed countries. A series of economic and political reforms launched in 1986, known as Đổi Mới, caused Vietnam to experience rapid economic growth and development, becoming a lower middle-income country. The World Bank (WB) has maintained a development partnership with Vietnam since 1993. As of 25 March 2019, it has committed a total of US$24 billion in loans, credits, and grants to Vietnam through 165 operations and projects, 44 of which are active as of 2019 and comprise US$9 billion. With an estimated extreme poverty rate below 3% and a GDP growth rate of 7.1% in 2018, Vietnam's economy continues to show fundamental strength and is supported by robust domestic demand and export-oriented manufacturing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysia and the World Bank</span>

Malaysia's independence in 1957 was a catalyst for growth. As the nation took charge of managing its own affairs, it continued to develop the goals and means necessary for a financial structure conducive to the economic growth observed today. Critical to the transition of Malaysia from a low-income country to one of high-income status has been the expansion of its economy. From a commodity and agricultural-based economy, the Southeast Asian nation is transitioning to a leading exporter of more complex goods. As the nation opens up to trade and investment, the World Bank and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) continue to assist with its development.

References

  1. 1 2 "The World Bank | Singapore | Overview".
  2. "Appraisal of the Port of Singapore Expansion and Improvement Project (A Supplementary Report)" (PDF).
  3. 1 2 "Jurong Wharf is completed - Singapore History". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. "Jurong harbour directly linked to the world shipping lanes". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  5. "World Bank to put up infrastructure development hub in Singapore | PortCalls Asia | Asian Shipping and Maritime News". www.portcalls.com. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  6. "The Business Times. World Bank to create its first infrastructure hub in Singapore".
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Overview". World Bank. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  8. "About". GPSC. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  9. "Infrastructure Asia: Connecting Partners, Building Capabilities and Advisory | Infrastructure Asia". www.infrastructureasia.org. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  10. "Public Utilities Board, Singapore's National Water Agency - IAHR". www.iahr.org. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
  11. Biswas, Asit K.; Tortajada, Cecilia (2021-09-03). "Future of urban water and wastewater management: views on Singapore International Water Week". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 37 (5): 753–757. doi:10.1080/07900627.2021.1963115. ISSN   0790-0627. S2CID   237295696.
  12. "World Cities Summit". www.worldcitiessummit.com.sg. Retrieved 2022-07-23.