The World Bank's private sector financing arm said it could double or triple its investment in businesses in Indonesia and Thailand to help with reconstruction after the tsunami.
In an interview, Mr Amitava Banerjee, the International Financial Corp.'s manager for East Asia and Pacific, said IFC financing, through loans and equity, could rise to about $600 million a year in Indonesia and $200 million in Thailand.
"I could easily see us doubling or even tripling our program in these two countries, but realistically speaking I think that I would expect it to increase in the medium-term by about 50 per cent," he said.
The IFC helps finance private sector investment in developing countries where it's often difficult for companies to raise capital, and can also offer technical advice.
It pledged $2.5 million in grants to match the costs of local companies helping with tsunami clean up at their own expense.
The IFC's Banerjee said the Thai government, which saw its economy grow swiftly by about 6.4 per cent in 2004, had moved aggressively to deal with the crisis and domestic banks were also expected to step in with financing.
But the IFC could provide financing through hotel associations to rebuild properties and help resorts through financially lean times until tourists return, he said.
"Even after these places are rebuilt, they are not immediately going to be the same because occupancy rates are going to be low," Mr Banerjee said.
The challenge for businesses, he added, was to find credible means to show tourists that mechanisms are in place to deal with tsunami, including an early warning system.
"We will provide financing if required, but the entire part of credibility in terms of what their systems are and whether they make sense, that does require an objective agency like the IFC to verify and ratify," he said.
In Indonesia, where at least 101,318 people were killed by the tsunami, Mr Banerjee said the IFC was looking at providing micro financing for businesses through local banks, including funds for the hard-hit fishing industry.