World Bank's new Country Director for Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: Naoko Ishii will be appointed as the World Bank new Country Director for Sri Lanka. Present Country Director Peter Harrold's four year term of service ends in July.

Ishii, a Japanese has been a Director in the Japanese Ministry of Finance since 2002 where she has worked on Japanese policy on development assistance, including policies pertaining to multilateral development institutions.

Prior to this, Ishii worked with the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission of Japan where she helped enforce actions for any violations of the Securities and Exchange Act.

Ishii was a visiting scholar at Harvard University in 1996 and her career has also spanned employment with the World Bank where she was programme co-ordinator for Vietnam from 1997 to 2001. Other assignments include that of the Economist with the International Monetary Fund from 1992 to 1995.

Harrold's term of office in Sri Lanka saw a turnaround in the Bank's assistance to Sri Lanka both in financial support and in the provision of analytical and advisory services.

Harrold has worked to support the Government to overcome many impediments to poverty reduction, particularly bringing in to focus regional inequalities.

Harrold will take up a senior managerial appointment at the World Bank office in Washington, DC.