J FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

INTERNATIO!lJ\L MO «:TARY UNI> World Bank JOINT LIBRARY 1818 H Stree t, N.W., Wa shington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. Public Disclosure Authorized

BANK NEWS RELEASE Contact: Carol Stitt February 19, 1986 (202) 477-5322

ITALY SIGNS MIGA CONVENTION

Italy today signed the Convention establishing the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). This is the second industrial country to sign, following The Netherlands' signature earlier this month. Public Disclosure Authorized

MIGA, which will be the first globally operating development agency in this field, will promote investments to developing countries by issuing guarantees against non-commercial risks and by performing a wide range of promotional services.

The MIGA Convention was opened for signature by the World Bank's Board of Governors on October 11, 1985, at the Annual Meeting in Seoul. Italy is the tenth country to sign the Convention, which will enter into force upon acceptance by five developed and fifteen developing countries whose subscriptions total approximately 360 million U.S. dollars.

His Excellency Giovanni Goria, Minister of Treasury, signed for Public Disclosure Authorized Italy. The signing ceremony, which took place in Rome, was attended by Dr. Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Governor of the Bank of Italy, Mr. Mario Draghi, the World Bank Executive Director representing Italy, and by Mr. Ibrahim F.I. Shihata, the World Bank's Vice President and General Counsel.

Mr. Shihata thanked Italy on behalf of the Bank for its important role in helping to get MIGA established. "In the course of time I think MIGA will prove to be a very significant factor in encouraging the foreign investment that the developing countries so seriously need," Mr. Shihata said. "It is our hope that MIGA will substantially improve the investment climate and help to stem the decline in the flow of foreign investment. I am confident that other countries will sign shortly, and I expect the Convention to enter into force in the near future."

Other countries that have already signed the Convention include: Public Disclosure Authorized Ecuador, Grenada, Korea, The Netherlands, St. Lucia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Turkey, and Jordan.

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