The World Bank President David Malpass congratulated Indian Finance Minister Sitharaman for the nation’s crucial involvement in the manufacture and distribution of Covid 19 vaccines.
Malpass praises India:
President of the World Bank Group David Malpass commended Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on India’s Covid-19 immunization program on Sunday.
The World Bank president praised FM Sitharaman for India’s crucial involvement in manufacturing and distributing Covid vaccines. At the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, Nirmala Sitharaman met with David Malpass.
President Malpass emphasized the World Bank Group’s strong commitment to India’s initiative to control the Covid 19 spread, citing the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency as examples (MIGA).
India’s Vaccine Drive:
According to the statement, David Malpass commended Nirmala Sitharaman on India’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign and praised her for India’s international participation in vaccine manufacture and distribution.
Following a dramatic rise in infections, India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines overall, halted shipments of Covid-19 vaccinations in April to focus on inoculating its population.
Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister, indicated that India would begin supplies to other countries. Mandaviya last month announced on Saturday in New Delhi that India will reach a milestone of 100 million Covid-19 vaccination doses next week.
As of this evening, “97.23 crore people have received the first dose of Covid vaccination in the country,” he said.
World Bank’s Support to India:
The World Bank has approved $5.8 billion in operations to assist vaccination implementation in 61 countries as of October 8, 2021. The World Bank Group collaborates with partners on the world’s most extensive vaccine program to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a $6 billion Global COVID-19 Reaction Program on April 2, 2020, during the inaugural COVID-19 response phase (also called the COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Program, or SPRP).
The program’s emergency operations have covered over 100 nations to prevent, identify, and respond to COVID-19, as well as build public health preparation systems. When the SPRP was approved, the timetable of potential vaccine development was unknown, but worldwide vaccine development efforts moved quickly.
Recognizing the need for COVID-19 vaccinations, the World Bank Board of Directors approved an additional $12 billion in funding to the SPRP for emerging countries on October 13, 2020, to help fund the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
On June 30, 2021, that funding for the COVID-1President Malpass announced nine vaccines would be increased to $20 billion over the following 18 months, an increase of $8 billion over the previously promised $12 billion.v
Other discussions:
David Malpass and Nirmala Sitharaman also talked about India’s efforts to combat climate change, emphasizing the importance of increasing climate finance for high-impact initiatives that align with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and development goals.
During the discussion, Sitharaman praised the World Bank Group for its industry to expand lending space for India to increase development finance availability.
The minister stated that the focus should be on innovations that one can bring from the lab to the field, and those require targeted global study. The finance minister made three significant recommendations, including improving technology, reforming the infrastructure sector, and the banking system.
The World Bank president also praised India’s efforts toward financial reform and offered the World Bank’s support in round table discussions and operational assistance.
