World Bank picks Korean-American Kim as president

WASHINGTON (April
16, 2012):
The World Bank chose Korean-
American physician Kim
Jim Yong 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.
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 Kim
had 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 US$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

Source: Thesundaily News