Publications

	Table of Contents
p. 3 of 9 BACK | NEXT I. Introduction II. Strengthened Bank Representation in Donor Countries III. Bank Representative Offices in Donor Countries IV. Bank Resident Representation for Europe, Japan and North America V. Representation of Other Multilateral Financial Institutions in Donor Countries VI. Proposal for a North American Representative Office VII. Cost of the Bank's Representative Office in North America VIII. Organizational Arrangements IX. Recommendations

Bank Representative Offices in Donors Countries: Establishment of a North American Office

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III. Bank Representative Offices in Donor Countries

A. Unique Opportunities Provided by Resident Representation

11 . Representative offices in donor countries would provide the Bank with unique opportunities to strengthen representation. On important matters of Bank policy, operations and resource mobilization being considered within the donors' policy and decision-making frameworks would be handled through Bank representative offices in donor countries with support from Headquarters as appropriate. On these matters, representative offices are considered the most effective means of providing the Bank with (i) sustained and ready access to the widest range of donor constituents, while providing those constituents with timely information at low cost to them, (ii) high visibility by reflecting the Bank's commitment to accountability and transparency to donors, and (iii) an "early-warning system" on donors' and multilateral agencies' views, concerns, and interests in respect of the Bank, thereby enhancing the Bank's capacity to respond to them.

12. Representative offices would enhance and strengthen interaction by the Bank with relevant constituencies like governments, legislative bodies, opinion leaders, international nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and individuals in donor countries concerned with the investment of funds for the economic and social development of the region. In effect, all these groups are a constituency having a regional perspective on social and economic development in DMCs that should be kept regularly informed about the Bank's role, policy agenda, and performance. In turn, the Bank should have access to their views in the course of planning and managing its own activities. Proximity through resident representation provides for sustained and multilevel interaction with a wide range of constituencies in donor countries and would facilitate the Bank's related resource mobilization efforts.

13. With greater coordination and commonality required in the development and policy agendas of MFls, closer and more direct collaboration between the Bank and the other MFls on these aspects becomes essential. Such collaboration would strengthen the Bank's developmental and resource mobilization roles. Maintaining regular personal contact with the MFls would enable the Bank to become aware of new issues at an early stage, and to monitor consequent changes in operational policies in these institutions. The Bank could thus take a more proactive stance on new policy concerns. At the same time, the Bank could bring to the attention of the other MFls its initiatives on development and policy issues. Enhancing cooperation with the MFls and the relevant development and aid agencies in donor countries is important for the Bank's ongoing efforts in Asian Development Fund (ADF) replenishments and general capital increases. Furthermore, cooperation would facilitate co-financing arrangements with the MFls.

B. Roles and Responsibilities of Representative Offices in Donor Countries

14. There are two broad roles for a Bank representative office in a donor country: first, to demonstrate and effect the Bank's firm commitment to accountability and transparency for sustaining and facilitating resource mobilization; and second, to present information and express the Bank's positions, which are a reflection of the Bank's total membership with particular reference to the interests of the DMCs.

15. In light of the these two broad roles, the critical or perhaps "core" responsibilities for a Bank representative office in a donor country would be:

1. to assist policy makers in donor governments and their agencies, as concerns the Bank, through the provision of timely information on the Bank, articulating the Bank's position on policy issues, responding to questions about Bank's policies and procedures, providing analysis, and undertaking dialogue regarding the mutuality of interests in Asia's continued development, the continuing need for external resources to be mobilized through the Bank to support development in the region, and the associated role and achievements of the Bank;

2. to engage and interact directly with the media, NGOs, academic institutions, and other interested parties⁷ for the purpose of explaining to them the mutuality of interests in Asia's continued development, the continuing need for external resources to be mobilized through the Bank to support development in the region, the associated role and achievements of the Bank, and Bank operations and operational policies, and providing general information about the Bank;

3. to assist in the decision-making processes of the MFls and United Nations (UN) agencies in the donor country as regards strategic, policy, and resource mobilization issues that concern the Bank; given the Bank's size and importance, there is not only a need for the Bank to interact directly with other MFls, but the MFls expect this of the Bank; and

4. to keep Headquarters informed of the views, concerns, and interests of the Bank's major constituents in the donor country, and to provide advice on initiatives that may need to be taken by the Bank to influence those views as well as to respond to them.

16. Viewed against these roles and core responsibilities, the specific terms of reference of a representative office in a donor country would depend on its location and on particular Bank needs that are to be met through its establishment.

17. It is not considered appropriate to delegate or contract out such responsibilities to external agents or organizations (though they may assist the Bank with specialized services from time to time, as appropriate) .In particular, it would be inappropriate for the Bank to hire professional agencies to effect Bank representation in donor countries because (i) these professional agencies would not be professional about the Bank⁸ ; (ii) the Bank should not depart from the practice of other multilateral financial institutions; and (iii) shareholders may not agree to Bank funds being used to hire professional agencies for these purposes.

C. Coordination and Support Services to Representative Offices from Bank Headquarters

18. Bank Headquarters would coordinate closely with and among representative offices in donor countries; this would ensure that Bank information and its positions on matters of policy are consistent and uniformly articulated and disseminated, albeit provided in a manner appropriate to each locale. Bank Headquarters would also provide the following support services to representative offices in donor countries: current and comprehensive data, information, and analyses concerning the Bank's operations, policies, and resource mobilization; computer-based and other telecommunication linkages; and assistance in the provision and/or preparation of audio-visual and other materials to be provided to various donor constituencies and MFI/UN agencies.

D. Performance Assessment of Representative Offices

19. Representative offices in donor countries would be assessed on the basis of (i) their utility and operational effectiveness for the Bank, (ii) their usefulness as viewed from the perspective of the major constituencies in the donor countries⁹ and (iii) their ongoing efforts to improve effectiveness and minimize costs. In this regard, as the terms of reference of any individual representative office would be location specific, the results of assessments should be applied only to the representative office concerned. The preceding notwithstanding, performance assessments should be planned and conducted so as to provide a substantial basis for Bank decisions on continued operation of representative offices.

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