World Bank board discusses selection of next president

TIMES INT'L

The board of executive directors of the World Bank last week met under the chairmanship of its dean, Abdulrahman M Almofadhi, to discuss the selection of the next president of the World Bank, following the current president, Robert B Zoellick, announcing that he would not seek reappointment at the end of his term, which expires on June 30, 2012.

According to a release from the bank, the executive directors expressed their deep appreciation to President Zoellick for his leadership of the World Bank and its very significant accomplishments during his tenure, including: an agile, decisive, and effective response to the food and financial crises; increased support for disaster recovery, fragile states, gender equality, and climate change adaptation and mitigation through the launch of the Climate Investment Funds; renewed focus on private sector development, including the creation of the International Finance Corporation’s Asset Management Company; changes in the shareholding structure to enhance the voice and representation of developing and transition countries; the first general capital increase in over twenty years; and two record replenishments of the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank Group’s concessional window.

In 2011, the board of executive directors approved the process for selection of the president. It reconfirmed the importance of a merit-based and transparent process with all executive directors able to nominate and then consider all candidates.

Under the bank’s articles, the president of the World Bank is chief of the operating staff of the bank and conducts, under the direction of the executive directors, the ordinary business of the bank.

The president of the World Bank is ex-officio chair of the board of the executive directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The president is also ex-officio chair of the board of directors of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Related posts

Comments are closed.