World Bank Selects Jim Yong Kim As President

By Laura Matthews | April 16 2012 1:17 PM

The World Bank on Monday selected Jim Yong Kim as its next president. The World Bank presidency has gone to a U.S. candidate since the organization was founded at the Bretton Woods conference.

REUTERS

"The East Asia and Pacific region’s share in the global economy has tripled in the last two decades, from 6 percent to almost 18 percent today, which underscores the critical importance of this region’s continued growth for the rest of the world,” World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement Monday.

Sponsorship Link

The World Bank had a choice between Nigerian finance minister Okonjo-Iweala and Kim, president of Dartmouth College. It was the first time that a non-U.S. candidate has been a major challenger for the position.

In the end, Kim, a 52-year-old global health expert, will take over as July rolls around. Current president, Robert B. Zoellick, will step down, ending his five-year term.

A third candidate, Colombia's former finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, pulled out of the race on Friday. The UK's Guardian reported that Ocampo has called the selection process a a political-oriented exercise.

More in Politics