Global economy grows on 'two engines': World Bank chief

Reduce inequality, solutions bank

This year's Davos is going to be especially interesting, as the issue of inequality now has become everyone's concern that needs to be tackled, Kim said prior to participating in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss city of Davos.

"A good part of the reason for moving toward the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 is we were becoming increasingly conscious about inequality. Inequality has just gotten worse since we started the Millennium Development Goals movement. What we hope to be discussed in Davos is there are concrete things that countries and global community can do to both boost growth and reduce inequality. There are ways to do them both at the same time," he said.

"If you are really serious in tackling income inequality, you have to measure, you have to have data. The World Bank Group has committed itself to measuring the income group at the bottom 40 percent, and comparing that to growth of the country as a whole. It's a very good indicator of how the poor are doing relative to the rest of the society," he added.

"We have got to find out what are those investments that will lead to the development of infrastructure, the development of the kind of industries that would both grow the economy and reduce inequality. The jobs for young people, jobs for women, jobs for the poor," said Kim.

The third element of tackling inequality is investing in human beings, including health, education and social protection programs, said Kim, a former public health specialist, who is scheduled to visit Myanmar after his Davos trip to discuss with the Asian nation's policymakers on health and energy issues.

The former president of Dartmouth College said he is endeavoring to fundamentally reshaping the Washington-based WBG to build it into a "solutions bank" to provide best evidence-based knowledge on water, roads, health and education to clients anywhere in the world instantaneously.

When countries have problems, they should come to the WBG and the bank will "help them find the right solutions" and share best global practices and food for thought with them, argued Kim, adding that at the same time "we need to be as efficient and lean as we can possibly be to deliver on our mission."

Encouraging China sign

"In my trip to China, I have had the chance to meet with the top leaders. I'm convinced that their commitment to reform is very strong. This is an administration that understands the global economy, that understands what is going to take to make China more competitive, and that understands what is going to take to transform the Chinese economy to one that focuses more on services for example, the knowledge economy, than one that focuses on exports and investment," said Kim, who paid his latest visit to China in September.

The understanding that investment rates are high right now is very clear in China. The encouraging thing to hear is the recent round of reforms including making the market to determine the distribution of resources and the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, he said.

"Reforms in land, labor and finance are major issues for the Chinese government. But the movements we have seen in terms of the commitment to reforms have been encouraging for everybody," he added.