§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on the report of the Independent Inspection Panel commissioned by the World Bank on the China Western Poverty Reduction Project. [127578]
§ Mr. FoulkesBritain supported this project in the Bank Board meeting in June 1999 because it would bring significant benefits to 1.7 million of the poorest people in China. We also supported the Board's conclusion that no funds would be disbursed on the Qinghai component of the project until an independent Inspection Panel had conducted an investigation, and pending further environmental and social assessments.
The report by the Independent Inspection Panel, and the Bank Management's response to it, will be discussed at a World Bank Board meeting in early July 2000. We will be looking very carefully at the conclusions of the Inspection Panel Report, and the Bank Management's response to it, in advance of the Bank Board meeting.