World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim will visit India between March 11-13 to witness firsthand some of the development challenges India faces, as well as to gauge the potential opportunities it could exploit to achieve faster economic growth and a quicker reduction in poverty.
This will be Kim’s maiden visit to India after taking over as President of the World Bank Group last July.
He will meet with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi, and will also visit Lucknow and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh to meet Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and see development challenges in the state, which is home to the largest number of India’s poor.
Kim said “India boasts a vast development experience, and I am eager to learn about its success stories to see how they could provide lessons for other countries. I also look forward to the opportunity to find out what the World Bank Group can do to work with India in ending extreme poverty and boosting prosperity throughout the country”.
The World Bank Group President would visit India at a time when it is rapidly urbanizing, with 10 million Indians moving every year into towns and cities from the rural hinterland.
Kim would also visit a village in Uttar Pradesh to gain insights into the realities of rural life that might compel migration to towns and cities. He will then visit Kanpur, one of Uttar Pradesh’s largest cities, to experience firsthand the challenges in managing increasing urbanization.
Kim said “India’s historic transformation provides a great opportunity to lift millions out of poverty, but it also poses enormous challenges in providing jobs, housing and basic services to people”.
A quarter of urban India lives in slums, with limited access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, electricity or public transportation. “I am here to see how the World Bank Group can support India as it strives to turn its urban centers into clean, livable cities for its people” said Kim.
India is the largest client of the World Bank Group. Between 2009 and 2013, the Group lent $ 25.5 billion to India. The figure includes $ 12 billion from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), $ 8.3 billion from the International Development Association (IDA) and a further $ 5.2 billion in investments from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).