ASEM Trust Fund set up

ASEM Trust Fund set up

BRUSSELS (Reuters): The World Bank and European donors to a trust fund set up in response to the Asian economic crisis came close to identifying the first projects the fund will assist, officials at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday said.

One official said the projects included funding the planning of a World Bank operation to bring supplies and resources to some 1.2 million schools in Indonesia before a new school year starts on July 20, and advice to Vietnam on supervising its banking industry.

The ASEM Trust Fund, which is managed by the World Bank, was set up at the second Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in April.

ASEM brings together the 15 nations of the European Union and 10 Asian countries, of whom seven are eligible to benefit from the fund, as they are from other World Bank funds.

The meeting also finalized the list of EU nations contributing to the fund. They are: the executive European Commission, the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Luxembourg.