Castillo, Krichele B.

BSBM 1-B

“The role of the World Bank as an International Financial Institution and its participation
In the creation of global economy”

Banks are financial institutions that deal in monetary transactions. It refers to a financial institution
that accepts deposits and channels the money into lending activities. Banks form an integral part of any
society. In the modern society, in many areas, play many roles which includes unifying and intermediary
roles between the fund supplying and fund demanding sides of the society, helping accomplish investment
and saving functions. Banking system has been in place since centuries. But if we have central bank which
is a national bank that provides financial and banking services for its country's government and an
International bank which is an arrangement of financial service by a residential bank of one country to the
residents of another country. We also have, what we called World Bank. So, what is World Bank? How
World Bank works? How World Bank helps and affects the world economy? And as a World Bank consider
as the world’s largest external funder of health, are we considered it as a global health or global harm?
Also, World Bank does more harm than good to our environment and people?
In 1994 at the Bretton Woods Monetary Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, the World
Bank’s initial aim was to help rebuild European countries devastated by World War II Europe under the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Its first loan was to France in 1947 for post-war
reconstruction. The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing
countries for capital programs. It provides low-interest loans, interest-free credits, and grants to developing
countries. These support a wide vary of investments in such areas as education, health, public administration,
infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource
management. The World Bank functions as an international organization that fights poverty by offering
developmental assistance to middle-income and low-income countries. By giving loans and offering advice
and training in both the private and public sectors, the World Bank aims to eliminate poverty by helping
people help themselves. Under the World Bank Group, there are complimentary institutions that aid in its
goals to provide assistance. It is composed of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(or IBRD) and the International Development Association (or IDA). The IBRD focuses on middle-income
and credit worthy poor countries, while IDA focuses on the poorest countries in the world. Together these
institutions provide low-interest loans, interest-free credit, and grants to developing countries for
infrastructure, communication, and many other purposes. It is the world's largest source of development
assistance. It has over 180 member countries around the world that determine where its money comes
from and how it spends its money, whether that's on low-interest loans, free-interest credit to developing
countries, and so on.
According to the article of Ruger a member of American Public Health Association (1900’s), in recent
years the World Bank has become “The world’s largest external funder of health.” This situation reflects the
Bank’s increased sensitivity to poverty and its growing sophistication beginning. But according to both
internal and external observers, the neoliberal policies advocated by the Bank in the 1980s have provoked
or worsened dire economic conditions and the attendant health effects, such as increased rates of malaria,
HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis in much of the developing world. This “role of the World Bank in global health”
remains unaddressed by Ruger. In sum, he portrays the Bank’s increasing involvement in the health sector
as un-problematic. In failing to convert the price tags of projects into inflation-adjusted dollars a surprising
oversight for a health, economist Ruger underestimates the impact of past World Bank activities.
According to Michael Hudson (2015), people are often displaced, or their livelihoods are ruined. Over
the past decade an estimated 3.4 million people have been displaced by bank-funded projects. The bank
does this by lending money and giving grants to governments and private corporations in some of the least
developed places on the world. For example, money goes to preserving land, building dams and creating
health care systems. But a lot of poor people actually end up worse off because of those projects, a report
from The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists found. "The World Bank has promised 'do no
harm, but report has found that the World Bank has broken this promise.” Hudson says.

In all cases, and this topic I may imply the “Theory of Change” by Kurt Lewin in the 1940’s, the article
change initiatives often have ambitious goals of one group or organization. Assure that their programmers
are delivering the right activities for the desired outcomes. Also, this theory shows the risks and effects of
the goal of one organization. I apply this theory to the World Bank because although they aim is to help but
in the other side there’s a bad effects.
Overall, these articles we may not be physically displaced but rather economically displaced because
their livelihoods have been destroyed, or at least partly impacted. The problem is that even resettlements
that are done well and fairly often leave poor people even poorer. There's a lot of research that shows that
people who are forced to move suffer higher rates of hunger, illness and early death. It causes really
serious consequences for us people. In many projects implemented by World bank, there's always a price
tag for development. But the question is: Who should pay the price? Should poor people be the ones who
sacrifice when the government tries to do a big project? As a result, the history of the World Bank Group is
one of change, growth, and renewal. The resources provided by the World Bank Group Archives along with
the records it preserves illuminate the study of this evolution. The Bank is an important actors in shaping
global policy in the arenas of poverty reduction and disaster both natural and man-made recovery. As a
student, after all I read and learned, if I rate platforms and process of World Bank from 1-10, I will give 7
because personally, I believe you cannot achieve your goal if many people are suffering and get hurt.
World Bank plays a significant role in reducing problems and to have an effective program but in the other
hand, it also destroy particularly in our health, environment and economy.

References:
History of World Bank. World Bank Group, 2007. http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/archives/history
Emmanuel, and Kaludia Dmitrienko. The World Bank: Good Health and Harm. National Medicine of Medicine, 2005.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC14495/
Effects of World Bank: Michael Hudson. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, 2015
https://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/abs/10.1596/1813-9450-2517
Melbourne, Alam M. Theory of Change. Better Evolution, 2004. http://learningforsustainability.net/theory-of-change/
Chossudovsky, Michael. World Bank. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2009.
https://www.britannica.com//World-Bank
Castillo, Krichele B.
BSBM-1B

“The role of ASEAN as a political group in strengthening the power and increasing the growth
and development of member nations.”

After releasing the grave consequences of the Cold War, effort was made to establish peace in
South-East Asia. Trial was also made for economic co-operation among the countries of South-East Asia.
As a result of that effort, the ‘ASEAN’ was formed, this organization is playing a leading role in various
fields of South-East Asia. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was established on August
8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of what became known as the ASEAN Declaration or the
Bangkok Declaration, signed by the 5 founding fathers of the regional organization: Indonesia, Malaysia,
Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Later on, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia joined this
organization. Now, the number of the member countries of ASEAN is ten. The ASEAN region today has a
population of about 500 million, a total area of 4.5 million square kilometers with a combined gross
domestic product of U.S $737 billion, and a total trade of U.S $720 billion. It aims and purposes were about
cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, technical, educational and other fields, and in the promotion of
regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law. At the same time, they
trying to fight insurgencies within their borders and prevent the internal conflicts from spiraling into broader,
regional ones, as well as to maintain neutrality rivalries between superpower states. In short, ASEAN was
meant to be an association of countries engaged in nation building. The ASEAN holds meetings, known as
the ASEAN Summit, where heads of government of each member country meet to confer and resolve
regional issues. Like for example to our country the Issues about the Environment, Transboundary Haze,
Transnational Crime & Terrorism, Legal Cooperation, Immigration, Drugs and Civil Services. In addition
meetings are conducted with other countries outside the block with the intention of promoting external
relations. According to Kuala Lumpur (2008), ASEAN has shown great improvement in its economy
specifically in tourism, Food, Agriculture and Forestry, Finance and Banking and Industrial Development.
But despite of its success and improvement, how they are sure that there plans are really beneficial to the
our nation or it’s just a way to become disastrous? Also, how they can be sure if there plans run counter to
other nations?
According to Kai He (1986), The ASEAN integration cause market to be flooded by cheaper
products. Example of agricultural products like sugar and rice are cheaper in places like Cambodia and
India. Filipinos will end up buying cheaper imported products than more locally expensive products. As
consumers, we prefer buying less expensive than more expensive products. The same situation like we’re
preferring the other country’s products than our local products. The Agricultural Sector of Thailand has
negatively impacted by the reduced of tariffs because of greater number of imported agricultural goods. It
has the similar situation in our country that gives disadvantages of ASEAN Economic Community
According to Han Feng (2008) He said on his article the participants identified three external
challenges facing ASEAN: globalization,regional imbalances, and a lack of engagement
mechanisms. Many speakers contended that ASEAN’s development necessarily carries with it the
drawbacks of globalization.For instance, rapid regional development has led to fierce competition between
ASEAN countries. Others urged ASEAN countries already involved in international banking and foreign
investment to strengthen their financial capabilities to avoid meeting the same fate as East Asian countries
that were embroiled in the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. ASEAN countries are also worried that
Western values have eroded support for their own values. Also, he mentioned the ASEAN’s ability to
cooperate and coordinate regionally and internationally. While many participants described ASEAN as a
passive global player one that is often an observer rather than an actor in its interactions with the world –
they also acknowledge that its engagement capabilities are limited. ASEAN initiated forums and summits
are ineffective mechanisms for decision-making because they usually do not include global powers.
On the other hand Soloaga and Winters (2001), modify the improvement of the Philippines as a part
of ASEAN. I contributes to the advancement of the Philippines as a whole. Because of the incredible
support from other Southeast Asian nations, the country is better prepared for globalization. With the
Filipinos’ way of life eventually improved, it will be no surprise if the economy contains to perform well in the
next few years. ASEAN is one of the many reasons why the Philippines is in a good and stable pace and
potential investors, businessmen, and its citizens need not worry about the country’s stability.
According to the latest International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook figures, ASEAN
countries' gross domestic products combined to $2.73 trillion in 2017, putting the group ahead of the United
Kingdom's 2.63 trillion and India's $2.61 trillion. ASEAN is set to grow even more quickly, as some
countries like Vietnam and the Philippines boast huge growth rates. Last year, Focus Economics estimated
that ASEAN's growth had reached a five-year high of 5.2 percent.
All in all, in this study of ASEAN. Even though the economic community has encountered criticism
for not protecting small and medium enterprises. Inequality and labor issues could worsen also under the
ASEAN Economic Community. But perhaps the most important, ASEAN is a big part of our economic
growth especially in the developing countries. As a Filipino citizen, I must say that each step taken with
ASEAN is another step taken closer to a better and stabler economy. Be it travel, goods and services,
education and work opportunities the Philippines is getting closer to tapping into its great potential. If I rate
the role of ASEAN in our country from 1-10, I will give 8. The ASEAN and our country,and the distinct
opportunity of putting our world-renowned hospitality in the spotlight. In our country, President Duterte as
the ASEAN chairman will have the rare privilege of setting the agenda and focusing on what our country is
doing to promote peace, security and economic prosperity for all. ASEAN plays a significant role in to us
and individual and to our country.

References:
He, Kai. Association of South East Asian Nation. wordpress, 2007.
https://graduateway.com/Association -asean/
Effects of ASEAN Integration in the Philippines. eastvantage, 2013
https://asean.org/asean/effects-asean/overview/
Castillo, Beverly. The importance of the ASEAN Summit. Philstar
2017.https://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/x.php
Blanc, Jarett. What is ASEAN. Carnegie Endownment for International Peace, 2008.
https://carnegieendowment.org/2008/11/28/what-is-asean -1233
Jonathan, Javier J.
BSBM-1B

“The role of the World Bank as an International Financial Institution and its participation
In the creation of global economy”

International Financial Institutions are institutions that provide financial support in developing
countries, technical assistance to governments and loans to private businesses in order to invest in
developing countries. One example of International Financial Institution is the World Bank, which grants
loans to countries of the world for capital programs. With that, how effective are the programs and the goals
of World Bank in reducing those problems being encountered by the developing countries?

The World Bank, which is created on 1944, has started also with the Bretton Woods Agreement
by being part of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. It evolved as a global
institution concerning to the enhancement of liberal trade policies and the reduction of poverty through
assisted development. With that, we could say that the World Bank is already existing since the aftermath
of World War 2. And little we know that World Bank has a relation to Bretton Woods Regime. And as we all
know, Bretton Woods led to the creation of International Monetary Fund. Basically, World Bank helped
more than 100 developing countries and countries in transition by offering loans and advice to them. They
are also working with country governments, private sectors, think tanks and different international
institutions that caters the issues being faced by our world. In fact, the world bank is working to eliminate
poverty, foster economic growth, and to ensure sustainable gains in the quality of people's lives in
developing countries. From this idea, it has a relation to World Polity Theory. In this theory, the primary
attention goes to the global cultural and organization environment in which states are embedded. It also
specifies how institutions around the world should deal with common problems. Through this, the
government, still has the capability to address those particular issues that they are facing. And the World
Bank, are doing its role in bridging the possibilities of dealing with common problems in eradicating the
poverty incidence and boosting the economic growth. To prove that, the United Nations hailed the
Millenium Development Goals as the "Most successful anti-poverty movement in the history." UN Secretary
Ban ki-moon said that "It helped to lift more than 1 billion people out of extreme poverty, to make inroads
against hunger, to enable more girls to attend school than ever before and to protect our planet. Yet, for all
the remarkable gains, I am keenly aware that inequalities persist and that progress has been uneven".
Globally speaking, from 1.9 billion people who are living in extreme poverty in 1990, it came about to 836
million people in 2015; 2.1 billion people worldwide have gained access to improved sanitation, etc. Now,
the World Bank is working on the Sustainable Development Goals being set by the UN General Assembly.
It aims to end extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less $1.90 a day to no
more than 3% and to promote shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40% for
every country. But despite of eliminating such problems, there's always a failure in achieving success. One
example is the Zambian economy which led to a dramatic increase in public debt and when Zambia failed
in 1987 to secure a new agreement with the IMF, the World Bank have declined any further payments to
the Zambian government. And in 1990's, the World Bank had its attention on the problems behind the
failures of its financial products in the developing world. The problems includes the mismanagement of
funds by the local authorities and the lack of good governance in many of the recipient countries (McNeill,
2003).
Having an enough information about the World Bank, I would say that the World Bank plays a
significant role in reducing those problems and to have an effective program or policy that will encourage
every individual to strive for economic growth and stability for the benefit of everyone and to reduce the
extreme poverty being experienced by the developing countries. It serves as a challenge to all of us, to
think of the other ways on how we could eliminate poverty and poor economic growth. On the other hand, it
is an advocacy to all the leaders of each country to avoid corruption, be responsible in allocating such
resources, and effectively manage those funds by considering the welfare of the other people. Overall, its
participation in the creation of Global economy is highly recognized ever since it was created after the
World War 2 by the aids and efforts in helping the victims of the war by lending such money. And the
primary objective of World Bank is highly anticipated for a sustainable future.

References:

Hawk, T. (2015, July 3). (ITALICIZE NEXT TEXTS) Were the Millenium Development Goals a Success?
Yes! Sort of. Retrieved from https://www.wvi.org/united-nations-and-global-engagement/article/were-mdgs-
success.

Andrei, D. (2011, May 18). (ITALICIZE NEXT TEXTS) The Successes and Failures of the World Bank on
Global Poverty. Retrieved from https://www.e-ir.info/2011/05/18/the-successes-and-failures-of-the-world-
bank-on-global-poverty/

• Saluba, D. et. al. 2018. (ITALICIZE NEXT TEXTS)The Contemporary World. Muntinlupa City: Panday-
Lahi Publishing House Inc. https://www.wvi.org/united-nations-and-global-engagement/article/were-mdgs-
success
Jonathan, Javier J.
BSBM-1B

“The role of the World Bank as an International Financial Institution and its participation
In the creation of global economy”

ASEAN, or also known as "Association of Southeast Asian Nations", is a regional intergovernmental

organization which composed of ten Southeast Asian countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It was created on the
8th of August 1967 which became successful through the foreign ministers of the respective countries,
namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. They were hailed as the Founding
Fathers of ASEAN by recognizing their signatures in a document which is known as the ASEAN
Declaration. It was held at the main hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok Thailand.
The primary objective of ASEAN is to promote economic growth and regional stability among its members.
But what is the significant contribution of ASEAN which could be profitable in the future?

In my own assessment, I would say that ASEAN has a major contribution in alleviating the economy
by means of providing opportunities to everyone, and by working together to achieve the Millenium
Development Goals and to sustain or support the needs of everyone. To prove this, in a statistical
infographic report which released last 2017, the economy of ASEAN as of 2016, shows that it is the 3rd
largest economy in Asia, and ranked as 6th largest economy in the whole world. Thus, ASEAN attracted
US$97 billion in Foreign Direct Investment last 2016 and 80% of it were in services sector. Throughout
these successes, another major milestone of ASEAN in the regional economic integration agenda was the
establishment of the ASEAN Economic Activity last 2015. It offers opportunities to over 622 million people
through a huge market of US$2.6 trillion. The AEC has its blueprint, named as "AEC Blueprint 2025" which
is adopted by the ASEAN leaders at the 27th ASEAN Summit which happened last 22nd of November
2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It aims to achieve its vision of having a highly integrated and cohesive
economy; competitive, innovative and dynamic people of ASEAN; enhanced connectivity and sectoral
cooperation; and a more inclusive, resilient, people-integrated and people-centered community with an
integrated global economy. The AEC Blueprint 2025 will be implemented through the elaboration of work
plans by the various sectoral bodies of ASEAN. It will be reviewed and updated periodically to monitor the
changes, effectiveness and its relevance. Industry associations, partnership arrangements with private
sectors, and the wider community of the regional and national levels will be sought and fostered actively to
ensure the integration process and institutions will be strengthened and enhanced by its approaches as the
blueprint was implemented in order to have a public outreach. With that evidences, we could say that it has
an implication to Globalization. Why? Because of some of the key words that can be found in the AEC
Blueprint's 2025 Vision including one of its main characteristics of being a global ASEAN is one of the
absolute example that gives us a hint about the relation of ASEAN and globalization. Another is the
economic globalization of the member nations in which it could be seen in the success of the ASEAN such
as the integration of the Southeast Asian economies, as well as the free movement of goods, services and
capitals which provides the needs and commodities of a person across the borders by means of
transporting, importing or exporting of certain goods. Another is the Transnational Corporations, particularly
the Foreign Direct Investment or FDI. FDI is the investment of a certain company to a country which offers
various jobs to a large population and this contributes to the increased growth of economy. But just like any
other instances, there's always a failure in achieving our goals. (Eduardo Tardem, 2014) states that 20% of
the AEC's planned trade barrier reductions will not be in place by the beginning of next year, and might
never be put into place. This will lead the ASEAN countries, other than Singapore, the unwillingness to
make a cut on such tariffs. It could inflict some short-term pain on industries that are important to major
countries like Indonesia and Thailand. It will also launch a lot of serious problems and may do little boost on
the Intra-Southeast Asian trade which will suffer to trade barriers and non-tariff protections, difficult to
permit and challenges in customs, and the lack of physical infrastracture.

Many of us are longing to have a change, development and progress in our country. But this could
not be possible without the aid of the other countries and the ASEAN. ASEAN plays a significant role in
honing the future of its member countries. It is not just a political group, rather, it is a community that
empowers each and every individual, crucial to the transformation and boosting of the national and global
economy. It is not just an integration of economies, but rather, it is a group of nations that opens new
possibilities to everyone by helping one another in achieving the success and progressiveness of each
member countries amidst of cultural diversity but as one community aiming and dreaming of a brighter
future.

References:

Hill, H. and Menon, J.(2010, December).] ASEAN Economic Integration: Features, Fulfillments, Failures
and the Future. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/publications/asean-economic-integration-features-
fulfillments-failures-and-future

Kurlantzick, J.(2014, September 12). The Failures of the ASEAN Economic Community.
https://www.cfr.org/blog/failures-asean-economic-community
Wood, J.(2017, May 9). What is ASEAN? Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/05/what-
is-asean-explainer/

(2012, May 16). ASEAN Economic Community- ASEAN/ ONE VISION ONE IDENTITY ONE
COMMUNITY.asean.org.Retrieved from https://asean.org/asean-economic-community/

Saluba, D. et. al. 2018. Contemporary World.Muntinlupa City:Panday-Lahi Publishing House, Inc
https://www.adb.org/publications/asean-economic-integration-features-fulfillments-failures-and-future