World Bank to open Seoul office next year

The World Bank said Monday that it will open its office in South Korea next year in order to deepen joint efforts between the two sides in finding development solutions for emerging countries.

The Seoul government also agreed to launch a $90 million fund with the global lender to step up cooperation in supporting emerging countries for their development, according to heads of the two sides.

The “Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility” will support a broad range of economic development opportunities over three years in such areas as infrastructure, finance, economic development policy and information technology, they said.

Two separate agreements were announced in a meeting here held between World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and South Korea’s Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan.

“At a time of global uncertainty, there’s an even greater sense of urgency to help developing countries tackle their challenges to reduce poverty and create greater prosperity for their people,” Kim told reporters.

“South Korea’s experience in sustainable development, providing efficient infrastructure and services to improve the lives of its people, combined with its transition to a dynamic knowledge economy, provides lessons that can benefit many other developing countries,” he added.

The Korean-born World Bank president, in particular, said that the new office “would help share Korea’s development success” and its “expertise” in managing the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the recent 2008 global financial crisis. (Yonhap News)