The United States nominee for World Bank President Ajay Banga is on a 2-day visit to India on March 23- 24 where he is set to meet India Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finance minister Niramala Sitharaman, among others.
Banga's New Delhi visit is the final stop on his 3-week global tour that started in Africa before progressing to Europe, Latin America and Asia.
"Banga will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar while in India. The World Bank, India's development priorities, and problems with global economic development will be the main topics of discussion "In a statement, the US Treasury Department said.
Banga will also visit the Learnet Institute of Skills, a network of vocational schools created in partnership with the National Skills Development Corporation and partially supported by the World Bank. In order to explore how the programme is enhancing the lives and economic opportunities of participants, particularly young people, Banga will learn about the Institute's programme and meet with programme participants, staff, alumni, and commercial sector partners, it added.
A diverse coalition of governments, including Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Korea, and the United Kingdom, have since expressed their support for Banga, according to the Indian government, which endorsed his candidature shortly after his nomination was made public.
According to the statement, Banga has spoken with senior government officials, stakeholders, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and members of civil society during his global listening tour.. He has steadily gained support for his candidature along the way from activists, academics, development specialists, business leaders, Nobel laureates, and previous government officials.
If elected, Banga will draw from his experience working and living in emerging economies as well as his knowledge of creating public-private partnerships to mobilise funds and take action to address long-standing issues, it was noted.
That includes his work at Mastercard, where he was successful in bringing 50 million small companies online and bringing 500 million previously unbanked people into the digital economy.
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