Korean-American Kim new WB President
The World Bank chose Korean-American physician Jim Yong Kim as its
next chief Monday in a decision that surprised few but took beating an
unprecedented challenge to the US lock on the Bank’s presidency.
The Bank picked the 52-year-old US health expert and educator over
Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala amid rising pressure from
emerging and developing countries for the huge development lender to
recruit one of their own for a leader.
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Jim Yong
Kim |
Kim, the president of the Ivy League university Dartmouth College,
will succeed outgoing president Robert Zoellick, a former US diplomat
who is departing in June at the end of his five-year term.
After the first-ever open fight for the job, the Bank’s directors
expressed “deep appreciation” to Kim, Okonjo-Iweala and a third
candidate, Colombian economist Jose Antonio Ocampo, who withdrew from
the race Friday.
“Their candidacies enriched the discussion of the role of the
president and of the World Bank Group’s future direction,” the Bank said
in a statement.
“The final nominees received support from different member countries,
which reflected the high caliber of the candidates.” The US nomination
of Kimhad surprised many, as he was little known outside global health
circles and has no background in development economics.
It also broke the pattern of the 11 American bankers and diplomats
who have held the job before him. South Korea-born, US-raised Kim
instead has Harvard degrees in medicine and anthropology, and a strong
record in developing programs to fight diseases like HIV/AIDS and
tuberculosis in poor countries.
The position is crucial for much of the developing world. The
president oversees a staff of 9,000 economists and policy specialists,
and portfolio of loans for development projects that hit $258 billion in
2011.
In a statement from Lima, Peru, on Monday, Kim pledged to “seek a new
alignment of the World Bank Group with a rapidly changing world.” “It
was here in the shantytowns of Lima that I learned how injustice and
indignity may conspire to destroy the lives and hopes of the poor,” he
said.
“It was here that I saw how communities struggle to prosper because
of a lack of infrastructure and basic services... And it was here that I
learned that we can triumph over adversity by empowering the poor and
focusing on results.” There had been little doubt about the Bank’s
choice of Kim. By a longstanding pact Washington has chosen the head of
the World Bank while Europe has held control of who leads its sister
institution, the International Monetary Fund.
On Friday Ocampo pulled out, saying the decision would be made on
politics and not merit.
After Kim was named Monday, Okonjo-Iweala also blasted the
“long-standing and unfair tradition” for choosing a Bank head.
“It is clear to me that we need to make it more open, transparent and
merit-based. We need to make sure that we do not contribute to a
democratic deficit in global governance.” Development activists
applauded the choice, while regretting the appearance of a pre-ordained
result.
The Health Global Access Project called Kim a “transformative figure
in global health” who could bring sweeping change to the Bank.
They said his successful campaign to scale up access to AIDS
treatment in Africa took place “at a time when so-called experts in
development -- including the World Bank -- argued that it was neither
feasible nor cost-effective.” US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
said Kim will bring a fresh perspective to the Bank.
“His deep development background coupled with his dedication to
forging consensus will help breathe new life into the World Bank’s
efforts to secure fast economic growth that is widely shared.” But the
global development agency Oxfam called the selection process a “sham”
even as it praised Kim.
“Dr. Kim is an excellent choice for World Bank president and a true
development hero,” said Oxfam’s Elizabeth Stuart.
“But we’ll never know if he was the best candidate for the job,
because there was no true and fair competition.” Peter Chowla of the
Bretton Woods Project, which monitors World Bank work, called the
decision “a stitch-up between the US and Europe.” “This will further
erode the Bank’s legitimacy unless Kim starts listening closely to
developing countries and critics of the World Bank, and begins a process
of fundamental reform.”
AFP
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