Turkish national Hasan Tuluy has been appointed the World Bank’s new Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) effective from January 1.
In a press release, the Bank said Tuluy will oversee its lending, knowledge, and poverty-fighting operations in the region, which totalled up to US$9.6 billion in 2011 fiscal year. He will lead activities of the 700-plus staff working in the LAC region and will oversee a portfolio of over US$17 billion in loans, grants and credits. Typically the region accounts for more than 30% of total International Bank for Reconstruction and Develop-ment lending worldwide, the Bank said, while noting that it serves 31 countries in LAC, which is home to more than 540 million people.
The Bank also said that Tuluy has extensive experience in development issues, especially in the Middle East and Africa, and he has contributed to the strategic engagement of the Bank’s work in middle income countries, leading to a better response to these countries’ need for a more sophisticated approach in terms of financial instruments, on time knowledge services and having a greater voice in global affairs. It also said that Tuluy’s emphasis will be to consolidate the role of the World Bank as a trusted partner, helping countries deliver opportunities to all citizens through sustained and socially inclusive growth.
In response, Tuluy said he was “very grateful for the opportunity to work in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region that has demonstrated that successful outcomes can be shaped by the right kind of policies and leadership.”
About a decade ago, LAC was “thrown into a tailspin” by an international economic crisis with countries facing recessions in varying degrees. Since 2003, the region has been reaping the benefits of one of its strongest periods of growth, lifting 73 million people out of moderate poverty and slashing extreme poverty rates in half, the release said.
Referring to the uncertainty of the global outlook, Tuluy said while it is still unclear how much the current Euro-zone debt crisis will impact the region, its hard-won social gains would be at risk. “These need to be protected, and we are ready to help, working together with our regional development partners,” Tuluy said.
Tuluy replaces Pamela Cox, who, after seven years in the region, will take the position of Vice President for the East Asia and Pacific region.
