MIGA officials reacted sceptically to the report, saying it was filled with factual mistakes and unsubstantiated allegations that reflect the authors’ failure to visit MIGA clients or conduct an in-depth review of MIGA operations. But they said MIGA would conduct a careful review of the critique and issue a formal response.
“Of all the World Bank Group institutions, we’re probably the least understood,” said Moina Varkie, MIGA’s marketing manager.
“But there is a fundamental philosophical issue at stake,” Varkie told IPS. “Either you believe FDI (foreign direct investment) promotes jobs and fights poverty, or you don’t. We believe FDI is critical to growth.” MIGA, by providing guarantees, makes private investment possible in countries where there is a strong perception of political risk,
she said.
Since MIGA was founded in 1988 as the fifth agency of the World Bank Group, it has provided more than $7 billion in risk insurance in 75 countries. For the last two years, MIGA’s largest recipients have been businesses investing in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Russia and Turkey.
FOE is working with right-wing groups here that have also called for MIGA’s abolition, including the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
Their dislike of the agency was reinforced last year by the Meltzer Commission, which studied the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on behalf of the Republican-controlled Congress. It recommended the elimination of MIGA because of the many private-sector insurers that have entered the market and the existence in many countries of national political
insurance agencies.
“Of all the World Bank Group institutions, we’re probably the least understood,” said Moina Varkie, MIGA’s marketing manager.
“But there is a fundamental philosophical issue at stake,” Varkie told IPS. “Either you believe FDI (foreign direct investment) promotes jobs and fights poverty, or you don’t. We believe FDI is critical to growth.” MIGA, by providing guarantees, makes private investment possible in countries where there is a strong perception of political risk,
she said.Since MIGA was founded in 1988 as the fifth agency of the World Bank Group, it has provided more than $7 billion in risk insurance in 75 countries. For the last two years, MIGA’s largest recipients have been businesses investing in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Russia and Turkey.
FOE is working with right-wing groups here that have also called for MIGA’s abolition, including the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute.
Their dislike of the agency was reinforced last year by the Meltzer Commission, which studied the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on behalf of the Republican-controlled Congress. It recommended the elimination of MIGA because of the many private-sector insurers that have entered the market and the existence in many countries of national political
insurance agencies.
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