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World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick Monday announced the
appointment of Justin Yifu Lin, a Chinese national, as the new
chief economist and senior vice president for development economics
at the World Bank.

Lin, currently professor and founding director of the China
Center for Economic Research at China\’s prestigious Peking
University, was selected after a global search, according to a
statement released by the bank.

Expected to take up his position on May 31, Lin will succeed
Francois Bourguignon, who retired from the Bank Group last year to
become director of the Paris School of Economics.

\”As our first chief economist from a developing country, and an
expert on economic development and particularly agriculture, Justin
Lin brings a unique set of skills and experience to the World Bank
Group,\” said Zoellick in the statement.

\”I look forward to working closely with him on a number of
areas, including growth and investment in Africa, opportunities for
South-South learning and bank instruments to better support
countries hit by high energy and agriculture prices,\” he said.

Well known for his work on fiscal decentralization, enterprise
reform, urban and rural modernization and agricultural innovation
and reform, Lin has taught at several eminent universities in the
world, including Peking University, the Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology, Duke University of the United States, the
Australian National University and the University of California at
Los Angles.

A professor at Peking University since 1993, Lin has twice been
awarded the Sun Yefang award, China\’s highest economic honor.

Lin is also vice chairman of the All-China Federation of
Industry and Commerce and vice chairman of the Committee of Economy
of the National Committee of the Chinese People\’s Political
Consultation Conference.

He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago, a MA
in political economy from Peking University and a MBA from the
National Chengchi University.

Lin has served on several national and international committees
including the United Nations Millennium Task Force on Hunger, the
Eminent Persons Group of the Asian Development Bank, the Working
Group on the future of the OECD, the Reinventing Bretton Woods
Committee and the World Bank Chief Economist\’s Advisory
Council.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)

The World Bank said it is \”exploring\” the possibility of
establishing more offices in China to facilitate its local
programs.

\”We are seriously exploring it,\” David Dollar, the bank\’s
country director for China, told China Daily.

The bank\’s president Robert Zoellick visited China in
mid-December and discussed the issue with Chongqing municipality
head Bo Xilai. Bo suggested the bank send a special
representative to Chongqing to facilitate cooperation if a branch
was not immediately possible.

Dollar said that scenario was reasonable. \”Most of our
activities are at the local government level, provincial or even
county level,\” he said. \”We work with a lot of local governments
around China.\”

Establishing a local office would provide more face-to-face
contact with local governments, he said.

In Chongqing, for example, the bank and the municipal government
want to work together on rural-urban migration, vocational
training, foreign investment, improving public transport and energy
efficiency.

China is the World Bank\’s biggest client by number of projects,
with 75 currently under way across the country, he said.

(China Daily February 21, 2008)

World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick announced on
Thursday the appointment of Kristalina Georgieva as vice president
and corporate secretary, and Hasan Tuluy as vice president for
human resources.

Georgieva, a Bulgarian national, will take up her position on
March 10, 2008, and will head the corporate secretariat which
serves as interlocutor between the World Bank Board of executive
directors and bank management, according to a statement released by
the World Bank.

Georgieva, currently director for strategy and operations in the
World Bank Sustainable Development Network, joined the Bank in1993
as an environmental economist in the Europe and Central Asia
region.

Her other positions have included director for environment and
social development in the East Asia and Pacific Region and country
director for the Russian Federation.

Prior to joining the World Bank, Georgieva held a range of
academic and consulting positions in Bulgaria and the United
States. She holds a Ph. D in economics and an M. A. in political
economy and sociology from the University of National and World
Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Tuluy, a Turkish national and joined the World Bank in 1987 as
an economist in the Africa region, will take up his position on
March 11, 2008, said the statement.

Tuluy has held various positions in the Bank since that he
joined the bank, including senior environmental economist in the
Europe, Middle East and North Africa Region; principal country
officer for many African and Middle East nations.

He is currently chief operating officer of the World Bank
Group\’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Prior to joining the Bank, Tuluy worked as advisor to the
Ministries of Agriculture in Morocco, Tunisia, Madagascar, and
Guinea. He holds a Ph.D. in development economics/trade from the
Fletcher School, Tufts University.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)

The World Bank is looking to increase its presence in the South Pacific nation of Solomon Islands with the setting up of a new office in the capital Honiara, the Suva-based Pacnews reported on Monday.

The World Bank\’s vice president for East Asia and the Pacific region, James Adams, said the bank has already met with the Solomons\’ government to discuss its development plans.

A country manager will be appointed to the Honiara office, which Adams said will be operational within several months.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2008)

The World Bank ranked Jordan and Kuwait as top educational
reformers in the Arab world, according to a report released by the
organization in Amman on Monday.

The report, titled \”The Road Not Traveled: Education Reform in
the Middle East and North Africa,\” said Jordan and Kuwait are \”top
performers\” in terms of access, efficiency and quality of
education.

Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories were ranked
average in the study, while Djibouti, Yemen, Iraq and Morocco were
the lowest.

\”Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
have made significant progress in reforming educational systems,\”
said the report, adding that \”yet these achievements remain below
other countries at similar levels of economic development.\”

It added that the relationship between education and economic
growth in the MENA remained weak, and the divide between education
and unemployment has not been bridged.

According to the report, unemployment in the Arab world averages
about 14 percent, higher than that in other areas in the world
except the Sub-Saharan Africa.

Palestinian territories are the worst, with unemployment at 25.6
percent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)

The World Bank said on Tuesday it has approved 1 billion US dollars for Colombia\’s education.

Axel van Trontsenburg, the World Bank\’s director for Colombia and Mexico, said that, from the loan, 300 million dollars will go to Colombia Credit and Technical Studies Agency and 600 million to low-income students.

The bank is also willing to study medium-term plans for funding a metro project in the capital city of Bogota, the director said.

On concerns over a looming global recession, the official said Colombia is \”in good shape to face the financial market crisis and the risk of a US recession.\”

But he urged the country\’s authorities to take measures to combat poverty and unemployment and boost education.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2008)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the World Bank signed an agreement on Thursday to work together to help developing nations manage water resources, combat drought, and measure changes in climate.

Future projects are expected to take place initially in the Latin American region, notably in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, while other projects could be launched in other parts of the world, according to a joint statement released by the two agencies.

This new partnership will allow NOAA scientists and resource managers and the World Bank to more readily assist global communities in building resilience to climate extremes, said the statement.

Specifically, the assistance can help establish end-to-end early warning systems, enhance and protect local ecosystems, and realize the benefits of an integrated earth observing system, it added.

\”This initiative enables us to marry financial resources and technical resources – bringing them together for sustainable development,\” said Dr. William J. Brennan, NOAA\’s deputy assistant secretary for international affairs.

\”This helps us realize our mutual goals to decrease suffering from natural disasters and bolster economies while sustaining our environment. Together these efforts seek to improve livelihoods and reduce global poverty,\” he stressed.

The NOAA, an agency of the US Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation.

Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

\”We have always believed that good development is based on solid partnerships,\” said Katherine Sierra, World Bank vice president of sustainable development.

\”Today\’s agreement allows us to work more easily with an important partner in development and to bring the complementary strengths of our two organizations together for this common cause, \” she added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2008)

The World Bank Group Tuesday unveiled a new loan facility for natural catastrophes, improved the terms of an existing contingency financing product and approved a 300 million dollars loan for Colombia under a new policy that significantly extends maturities.

The announcements are part of a drive by President Robert B. Zoellick to improve the World Bank\’s efforts to overcome poverty in middle-income countries, said a statement released by the bank.

\”These financial product enhancements reflect the World Bank\’s commitment to using creative ways to expand resources for our country partners,\” said Zoellick.

\”As our client relationships with middle-income countries become more sophisticated, the World Bank is responding with development solutions that share knowledge, build markets and institutions, and provide capital,\” he added.

The Catastrophe Risk Deferred Drawdown Option (DDO) facility, or CAT DDO, offers middle-income countries up to 500 million dollars if they suffer a natural catastrophe such as a hurricane or earthquake.

Its purpose is to provide bridge financing while other sources of funding are being mobilized. Funds will be disbursed when a country suffers a natural disaster and declares a state of emergency. Countries signing up for the facility must have a hazard risk management program in place that is monitored by the World Bank.

The World Bank also approved a 300 million dollar loan to support a loan program in Colombia for its poorest students with an average repayment maturity of around 17 years.

The loan is the first under a new policy that extends average repayment maturities to 18 years from a previous 10 years and three months to 14 years and three months, depending on per capita income, said the Bank.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2008)

The World Bank seeks to work together with China as strong partners in Africa to tackle key challenges standing on the way to Africa\’s sustained growth, said Obliageli \”Oby\” Ezekwesili, the Bank\’s Vice President for African Region.

The principles underlying China\’s support are those of mutual benefit, and reciprocity. \”What is different, however, is the scale and focus of these investments,\” Ezekwesili said Wednesday while addressing at the Chinese Center for Economic Research of Peking University.

The cooperation should focus on areas including infrastructure, regional integration, natural resource management, agriculture and technology, said Ezekwesili

\”Working more closely together we can support the efforts of our partners in Africa – as drivers of their own development.\”

According to the World Bank, infrastructure remains a critical bottleneck for Africa which remains a \”high cost\” business address. About 54 percent of population are likely to miss the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target for water; 25 percent of African households have access to electricity.

Estimates reveal that Africa requires capital investment of about 22 billion US dollars per year to sustain a 7 percent GDP growth rate which leads to achieving the poverty target set in the MDG.

\”China holds huge promise for Africa, not just in terms of the enormous financial investment that it brings into energy, transportation, water and other related sectors, but also the technical expertise that comes with its own development of such world class infrastructure network,\” she said.

She also suggested that China support investment within African countries that are drawing on and improving the local talents.

\”Such investments ought to provide important opportunities for indigenous African firms to form joint ventures to enable them clime the value chain,\” she said.

\”I am pleased that China is participating as an Observer in the(Infrastructure) Consortium, and hope that this will gradually develop into full participation as a member.\”

Chinese companies participate in World Bank funded projects in Africa and at current annual average of 265 million US dollars being one of the largest such share.

\”We can learn a lot from China,\” she said.

\”The path through which China has traveled in the reduction of poverty levels is certainly one that provides hope for Africa in many ways especially in agriculture. I really look forward to exploring how China\’s experience can be beneficial to Africa.\”

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2008)

Talent outflow has become a serious problem facing small countries in the Caribbean region, Pablo Fanjzylber, an official from the World Bank said Wednesday.

Fanjzylber made the remarks at the 10th international Gathering on Globalization and Development Problems in Havana.

More than 80 percent of professionals have migrated from nations such as Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada and Guyana with the United States as the main target country, according to Fanjzylber.

More than 30 percent of graduates have moved out of the Caribbean region in recent years, in contrast to 10 percent out of South America and 15 to 20 percent from Mexico and Central American states, said Fanjzylber.

He added that Caribbean states led the continent of America in migration, while Mexico and Central American states were showing an increasing migration trend.

The meeting began on March 3 in Havana, with nearly 1,200 representatives coming from 55 countries and 24 regions and global organizations.

(Xinhua News Agency March 6, 2008)