USA - World Bank to name chief "on Monday"

WASHINGTON: The World Bank will meet to decide which of three candidates will be its 12th president, after a historic campaign that saw the first serious challenge to US leadership of the institution.

According to a source close to the decision making process, the World Bank's board will convene Monday to choose between American nominee Jim Yong Kim and two candidates who embody developing countries' demands to have a bigger say in global governance.

Though Kim remains the odds-on favourite to win, Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Colombian Jose Antonio Ocampo have transformed what is normally a US coronation into a fully-fledged battle of succession.

Thanks to a tacit agreement, the United States, the Bank's biggest stakeholder, has always chosen its leader, with support from Europe, which in turn nominates the head of the International Monetary Fund.

Widely respected Nigerian finance minister Okonjo-Iweala and Colombian former finance minister Ocampo, have given voice to demands from Africa, Asia and Latin America, that the arrangement must end.

Forced onto the back foot, President Barack Obama and his administration have pushed back hard for Kim's nomination.

The Korea-born, US-raised physician has gone on a global charm offensive.

In an interview statement to the board of directors on Wednesday, Kim vowed to bring a listening ear and objectivity to the post.

As head of the World Bank, the president plays a crucial running an organisation that doled out US$57.3 billion last year and has more than 9,000 employees worldwide.

"If I were entrusted with the responsibility of leading this institution, you would find in me someone who asks hard questions about the status quo and is not afraid to challenge existing orthodoxies," he said.

A Harvard-trained doctor and anthropologist, 52-year-old Kim is the former director of the department of HIV/AIDS at the World Health Organisation. He became the president of the Ivy League college Dartmouth, in New Hampshire, in July 2009.

"You'd also find someone interested in listening -- to the Board, to our clients, to staff both here and in the field and to stakeholders in the private sector and civil society."

- AFP/wk

Business & Investment Opportunities 
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com