ABSTRACT
During the past 50 years, the East Asia and Pacific region has been transformed by the most rapid and extensive development seen in human history. While this is the result of the efforts of the governments and peoples of those countries, access to increasingly open international markets and development assistance have no doubt contributed to the success. The international financial institutions (IFIs) have been at the centre of the development-assistance support provided to East Asian countries and, of the IFIs, the World Bank has arguably had the most sustained and broad-based engagement. Yet, in part because of the success of East Asia, the relevance and role of the IFIs in the region is in question.
