SEOUL, December 4, 2013 - The World Bank Group today officially opened an office in Songdo City, marking a major milestone in its relationship with Korea and paving the way for greater collaboration with Korea on development around the world.
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim performed the opening honors in a special ceremony attended by Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Oh-Seok Hyun and Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil.
“Korea has shown the world that it’s possible to make a leap from poverty to prosperity in a single generation,” Kim said. “This new office symbolizes a deepening of our ties with Korea so we can distill and share the lessons of Korea’s development experience.
“We know we need Korea’s support in meeting the World Bank Goals to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. Our relationship with Korea will play an integral part of our moves to learn the lessons of development and also to boost private sector investment, from Africa to Asia. Korea has demonstrated that any successful development requires private sector support and investment.”
While the new office would operate as an effective hub to transfer Korea’s development knowledge, Kim said it would also serve to foster closer collaboration in financial sector work. Areas of future co-operation would involve joint work on regional financial sector projects as well as training programs for bank and financial regulators in Asia.
He also said city administrators in developing countries would be interested to visit and learn the lessons of “going green” with the new office in Songdo, which is emerging as a global model of green growth for cities around the world.
