Barack Obama, Jim Yong Kim, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Timothy Geithner
Dr Kim was nominated for the top post by US President Barack Obama
The World’s Bank’s new president, Jim Yong Kim, has said that capitalist “market-based growth is a priority for every single country”.
Dr Kim told the BBC that market-led growth will help create jobs and lift people out of poverty, two issues that were key to global economic growth.
He was chosen as the new president of the World Bank on Monday.
The Korean-American will succeed Robert Zoellick, serving a five-year term beginning on 1 July.
‘Work on evidence’
Aged 52, Jim Yong Kim is a doctor lauded for his pioneering role in treating HIV/Aids and reducing the impact of tuberculosis in the developing world.
He said that he had worked for more than 25 years in developing countries, tackling issues and programmes that the world bank plays a key role in.
Dr Kim said his background and experience would help him implement the bank’s policies in a more successful manner.
“I am a physician. Physicians work on evidence, rather than working from a single ideology, rather than working from a particular political point-of-view,” Dr Kim told the BBC.
He said that he would take into account the cultural and social peculiarities of various regions to ensure that the World Bank’s various schemes achieved the desired results.
“If we can focus on the evidence of what is actually working and adapt those evidence-based interventions to local context, I think we can be very successful.”
