js-2342: Prepared Statement by World Bank President Nominee <script type="text/javascript"> var wmNotice = "UNT Web Archive - External links, forms, and search boxes may not function within this collection. Url: http://treasury.gov/press/releases/js2342.htm time: 11:05:39 Jan 09, 2009"; var wmHideNotice = "hide"; var contextRoot = "https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/"; </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/js/disclaim.js"></script> <br> Paul Wolfowitz in Brussels



	FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS March 30, 2005 js-2342 Prepared Statement by World Bank President Nominee Paul Wolfowitz in Brussels I have just had the opportunity to exchange views with some articulate and well-informed European leaders who are strongly committed to the important work of the World Bank. We have had a constructive and encouraging talk about our shared goals of poverty reduction and international development. I appreciate the invitation to this meeting and I'm grateful to those who participated in today's helpful dialogue. On a personal note, let me just add that if approved by the World Bank Board as President, I look forward to being an international civil servant with the responsibility for heading the world's leading institution of economic development, an institution whose aim is reducing poverty and developing opportunities for all the people of the world to achieve their full potential. People who don't know me may not appreciate why I am eager to take on this challenge, so let me explain: I believe deeply in the mission of the World Bank. Helping people to lift themselves out of poverty is a noble mission. Nothing is more gratifying than being able to help people in need, as I experienced once again when I witnessed the tsunami relief operations in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. It is also a critical part of making the world a better place for all of us. It is not just the material side of life that improves; peace and freedom are also advanced when more people can enjoy the benefits of prosperity and human dignity. I have experienced this closely and personally, for example, as Ambassador to Indonesia where economic development was the most important issue on the agenda. I saw first-hand what the World Bank could accomplish, working in support of dedicated development professionals in the Indonesian government and from many donor countries. I also saw first-hand the obstacles that corruption and weak institutions present to efforts at development and poverty reduction. That is one of many reasons why I applaud the legacy that Jim Wolfensohn will be leaving at the World Bank. He has deepened the Bank's commitment to poverty reduction. Among his many lasting contributions, Jim Wolfensohn has brought an important focus on issues of transparency, accountability and governance as critical elements of the economic development agenda, and of human progress more broadly. If approved, I look forward to working with the extraordinary group of professionals at the World Bank. It is exciting to contemplate working with such diverse talents drawn from across Europe and around the world. I look forward to continuing and strengthening their important work for the less fortunate of the world and for economic development across the globe. I also look forward to hearing the views of the many constituencies of the World Bank, borrowers and donors, governments and NGOs, as we shape a common vision of how to continue the noble work of this important institution. I plan to continue listening and consulting with those who have served the world's poor with skill, devotion and compassion like the officials I met with today. In closing, let me again thank my hosts from the European community for making this meeting possible. This has been a very short visit, but I look forward to many more visits to Europe and to the opportunity to enjoy Brussels and the hospitality of this historic city.