World Perspectives

Fungible Assistance and Soybeans; Goodbye Transparency; Election Impacts; FTA Goodwill

Fungible Assistance The World Bank and (largely Japanese-funded) Asian Development Bank continue to provide development assistance to China that is generally focused on low-carbon urban transport plus education and elderly aid. The former gave $2.47 billion in concessional loans to China in 2017. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) separately chips in for poverty relief there. This aid frees up money in Beijing for its own kind of international well-wishing with the net result being that China’s development assistance has declined from a positive $3.5 billion in 1995 to a negative $791 million in 2016 – meaning its overseas development assistance now exceeds the aid it receives. However, this begs the question of why...

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From WPI Consulting

Infrastructure investment due diligence

On behalf of a Canadian oilseed processer WPI's team provided market analysis, econometric modeling and financial due diligence in support of a $24 million-dollar investment in a Ukrainian crush plant. Consistent with WPI's findings, local production to supply the plant and the facility's output have expanded exponentially since the investment. WPI has conducted parallel work on behalf of U.S., South American and European clients, both private and public, in the agri-food space.

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