World Bank picks US nominee Kim as next leader
Washington - The World Bank on Monday named US nominee Jim Yong Kim as its next president after a process in which a US nominee to lead the development lender was challenged for the first time by candidates from emerging economies.
Kim, a physician who co-founded the non-governmental organization Partners in Health and helped pioneer public health strategies against tuberculosis and AIDS, currently serves as president of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
The board interviewed three finalists last week - Kim, Jose Antonio Ocampo of Colombia and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria – to take the helm when World Bank President Robert Zoellick leaves office June 30.
Ocampo had withdrawn his candidacy Friday, citing a lack of support from his own government.
The non-governmental aid agency Oxfam praised Kim but condemned the "sham process" that led to his appointment, saying it had damaged the World Bank's credibility.
"Dr Kim is an excellent choice for World Bank president and a true development hero, but we'll never know if he was the best candidate for the job because there was no true and fair competition," said Elizabeth Stuart, chief of Oxfam's Washington office.
Since the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were established in 1944, a European has always headed the crisis-lending IMF while its sister development agency has been led exclusively by Americans.//DPA
