By Lesley Wroughton
WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) – Jim Yong Kim, the
U.S. nominee to lead the World Bank, will win broad
international support despite an unprecedented challenge by
candidates from emerging economies, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner said in an interview.
Washington’s hold on the World Bank presidency is being
contested for the first time by candidates from emerging
economies. Two respected economists and diplomats, Nigerian
Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian
finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, have been nominated.
Kim, a Korean-American health expert, is well known among
development experts for his work in fighting HIV/AIDS and
bringing healthcare to the poor. President Barack Obama
nominated him for World Bank president on Friday.
“The president was looking for a candidate who could command
broad support across the world,” Geithner told Reuters in an
interview released on Saturday. “That’s very important, because
we don’t make this decision alone.”
“Dr. Kim’s mix of skills will be particularly compelling to
the bank at this time and I think the world will be very
impressed with him,” he said.
Emerging economies such as China, India, South Africa,
Brazil and Russia have sought to use their growing economic
clout to pry open the selection process for the heads of the
World Bank and its sister organization, the International
Monetary Fund.
The World Bank has always been headed by an American and the
IMF by a European since their inception after World War Two.
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