Experts: Korean Jim Yong Kim IsNot the President that the World Bank Needs.

BOGOTÁ – The inexperience of the recently elected president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, presents many doubts about the future of the institution, whose reputation of being an efficient entity is fading.

The Korean-American was chosen as the new president of the WB yesterday, after the first non-unanimous vote amongst shareholding countries since its creation in 1946.

Kim, a 52 year-old doctor, was elected over Nigerian Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Jweala, thanks to the votes from the United States, Western Europe, Russia, Mexico, South Korea and Japan.

The rest of the countries supported the Nigerian candidate in vain, who announced that the decision was made by politics, not merits.

“It is clear to me that we need to make this process more open, transparent and merit-based. … We need to make sure that we do not contribute to a democratic deficit in global governance,” said the Nigerian.

The biggest worry amongst analysts is that Kim has no experience in finance or economy to guide the organization. The WB controls resources for social programs. It functions as a bank and its directors have always come from the political or financial sector.

“It is a very uncertain panorama. Kim’s profile doesn’t bring many expectations in the function of the bank as in the function of multilateral organizations,” said Diego Fernando Ochoa, director of professional investigations of stocks.

“It’s a lack of experience that reflects that the criteria of the bank will not be positioned by technocracy, but linked to the interest of developed countries,” he added.

Maybe the bank’s biggest current problem is that the other member countries have started to question its organization and work as an entity controlled by the United States. This is why the selection of the South Korean was seen as a bad decision.

According to analyst Felix Salmon, “the World Bank, under Kim, will decline in relevance, as the new creditor nations, especially Brazil and China, demonstrate understandable reluctance to fund an organization in which they have distressingly little voice.”

However, these two countries are among those with the most World Bank projects in the world: China places second with 112 projects, and Brazil exceeds all of South America with 80.

“The bank already has a marked structure since the 40s and that’s why it’s very improbable that it will change,” said Jairo Velazquez, professor of international relations in the University of Sabana.

However, the selection of Jim Yong Kim hasn’t all been negative, since it means that the United States is already paying attention to other economic powers.

“Kim’s selection, who is of Korean ancestry, signifies that more attention is being given to emerging countries,” said Luis Carlos Guzman, director of the economics department at the Central University.

“This shows that the big powers are recognizing that there’s a new global economic condition, which implies rethinking the disposition of power,” he indicated.

“In general, the presidents of the bank have to be capable of managing economic as well as social subjects. That’s where it differs from the International Monetary Fund,” said Camilo Rojas, international analyst of Correval.

“The important thing is to avoid people from getting poorer, [and] that the access to basic services are [not] affected,” he added.