The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the risk insurance arm of the World Bank Group, has set up Asian hub to expand its reach beyond its Washington, DC headquarters.
The Asian hub will operate from Hong Kong SAR, China and Singapore and will focus on increasing inbound and outbound investment in Asia.
MIGA’s chief financial officer and Finance and Risk Management Group director Kevin Lu will lead the Asian hub in his new role as regional director for Asia-Pacific.
Lu will be joined by Hal Bosher, senior underwriter based in Hong Kong and Ann Russell-Cook, senior underwriter based in Singapore. The team will also include the local representatives Chao Shen (in Beijing) and Yasu Himeno (in Tokyo).
MIGA executive vice president Izumi Kobayashi said that there are two strong motivations for MIGA to launch an Asian hub.
“The first is logistics: we can now more effectively service our Asian clients because we have a foot on the ground in the region. Of course, the pace and strength of Asian investment is also a major motivation,” Kobayashi said.
Lu said as this is a critical point for MIGA and we are well-positioned to help investors mitigate risks and navigate issues they may have not encountered before.
“At the same time, MIGA emphasizes that there is still much developmentally sound investment to be encouraged within the region,” Lu said.