The Korea- World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), established in May 2013, is an initiative to strengthen ties between Korea¡¯s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) and the World Bank. The facility¡¯s overall objective is to support low- and middle-income countries that seek to adapt and apply Korea's development experience and technical expertise to achieve inclusive and sustainable development. Through this Facility, the Government of Korea provided US$328 million between FY14-FY23, making it the largest TF with any Multilateral institution. The second phase of the KWPF for FY24-27, in the amount of US$140 million, was signed on October 12, 2022, and became effective on July 1, 2023.
KWPF celebrated its ten years anniversary on April 25, 2023 during a high-profile conference titled "the KWPF Tenth Anniversary Conference: Toward a New Decade of Inspiration in Korea¡± held in Seoul.
The Facility is structured to comprise of three pillars of collaboration:
The Facility is managed with a strong emphasis on results, and seeks to support World Bank projects that are designed to maximize development impact. In doing so, the Facility emphasizes strong alignment with the World Bank¡¯s lending operations and strategic policy dialogue, as well as on sharing Korea¡¯s development experiences with developing countries. The program also has a focus on involving Korean institutional partners in sharing Korea¡¯s development experience with developing countries.
The KWPF Program Management Team is housed within the Trust Funds and Partner Relations unit of the Development Finance Vice Presidency (DFi) at the World Bank. The KWPF Team organizes Annual Consultations with MoEF to discuss the objectives, design and operation of the program, agree upon the thematic and regional priorities for each of the calls for proposals, and review the implementation progress of the program.
Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024
The Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) supports a broad range of economic development opportunities with a focus on promoting best practices by leveraging the WBG¡¯s knowledge and convening power and Korea¡¯s expertise. KWPF is funding activities in various stages of implementation that are demonstrating some promising early results. During FY 17¨C18, Window 2 has financed projects mainly in Energy and Social, Urban and Rural Development to complement those projects financed in preceding calls and in Social Protection and Private Sector Development. In other innovations, the KWPF has allocated support in sectors that are new for the Facility to support. For example, Sierra Leone: Designing public spaces as productive economic assets through tourism for US$0.747 million targets the tourism sector. Also, the KWPF has increased support to recovery from Fragility, Conflict and Violence, an example of this being a US$5 million grant for the development of a national spatial strategy in Afghanistan. Window 3 is funding innovative technical assistance/policy dialog, capacity building, proof of concept, applied research, and knowledge exchange activities that task teams can implement relatively quickly and are contributing effectively to larger development goals.
About the KWPF Portfolio
The Government of Korea provided US$90 million during FY14-FY16 (Part I), US$90 million during FY17-FY19 (Part II), and US$148 million for FY20- FY23 (Part III). The second phase of the KWPF for FY24-27, in the amount of US$140 million, was signed on October 12, 2022 and became effective on July 1, 2023
To date, the KWPF Secretariat has administered eleven calls for Window 2 and 3 proposals. See list of approved Window 2 and 3 grants .
KWPF Windows 2 and 3, Number of Proposals Received and Grants Approved (FY14¨CFY23)
The following Window 1 programs have received support from Korea through KWPF
Window 1 Programs |
Public Expenditure Management Network in Asia (PEMNA) Multi Donor Trust Fund |
WBI Global Program on Knowledge Sharing SDTF (LLI) |
Poverty Dynamics and Public Service Delivery MDTF (Knowledge for Change Program) |
Governance Partnership Facility Korea SDTF |
IFC Comprehensive Trust Fund |
Korea World Bank Group Office Trust Fund |
MDTF for Statistical Capacity Building III |
Global Facility on Growth for Development SDTF |
Korea's Donor Funded Staffing Program |
Digital Development Partnership |
Korea Program for Operational Knowledge SDTF |
Korea World Bank Group Office Trust Fund |
Regional Initiative for Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology for Africa |
World Bank Group Partnership Fund for the SDGs MDTF |
GovTech Global Partnership Multi Donor Trust Fund |
Fund for Advancing Sustainability (FAS) under MIGA¡¯s Strategic Priorities Program (MSP) |
Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024
The Trust Funds and Partner Relations unit of the Development Finance Vice Presidency (DFi) at the World Bank Group manages (i) the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF) and the (ii) the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF)-World Bank (WB) Co-financing Facility
Korea, an aid recipient less than two decades ago, is now a donor with an increasingly coherent and coordinated Official Development Assistance (ODA) strategy utilizing expertise of relevant ministries. The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) aims to link its various ODA programs including (i) bilateral development cooperation through the EDCF, and (ii) development programming through partnerships with Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) via Trust Funds (TFs) and the Green Climate Fund. MoEF aims to effectively transfer Korea¡¯s expertise and experience to developing countries with high development demand in cooperation with the World Bank Group (WBG) through TFs such as KWPF and a Co-Financing Agreement between EDCF and WB.
KWPF aims to share Korea¡¯s successful development experience with developing countries through collaboration between the Bank, the Government of Korea, and Korean organizations. Since the inception of the Facility, the dialogue and collaboration between WBG project teams and many Korea institutions is ongoing in the agriculture, health, ICT, and skills development sectors. With the goal of intensifying mutual learning, information sharing, and knowledge exchanges between World Bank project teams and Korean institutions, the KWPF Program Management Team produced the , a resource on Korean institutions for potential collaboration. Every approved grant under Windows 2 and 3 strives for engagement/collaboration with at least one Korean institution/expert.
Last Updated: Sep 11, 2023
May 21, 2024: The Future is Now: Jobs as Engines of Economic Transformation conference
April 25, 2023: KWPF 10th Anniversary Conference: Towards a New Decade of Inspiration
June 6-7, 2023: Unlocking Access to Health: Caribbean and Central America Forge Path to Universal Health Coverage
April 28, 2022: Workshop on Data Ecosystem Development in Moldova
November 2021: How Can Eurasia Reap the Data Dividends: Opportunities for Data-Driven Transformation
Last Updated: Jul 26, 2024