PUTRAJAYA, March 4 — The World Bank Group (WBG) top executives are in Malaysia to get first-hand information on the socio-economic development of the country.

A group of eight executive directors from the World Bank, representing various countries, is on a two-day visit to Malaysia beginning today for the mission.

They had a dialogue with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at his office in Perdana Putra Complex here today.

Also present at the dialogue were Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

The visit is co-organised by the Finance Ministry and Malaysia’s executive director in the World Bank, Dr Sundaran Annamalai, to enhance Malaysia-World Bank relations.

Their itinerary includes a field trip to Felda Trolak in Sungkai, Perak, to see how new land development and resettlement have contributed to higher income drawn by Felda settlers and poverty eradication.

They also visited the Urban Transformation Centre in Pudu Sentral which has greatly improved access to various public and private services by locating them under one roof.

The Finance Ministry said Malaysia’s development agenda of growth with equity has resonated very well with the WBG’s twin goals of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the global population.

“The WBG recognises the development efforts and progress made by Malaysia,” the ministry said in a statement.

The visit would foster closer relationship between Malaysia and the WBG and the ties have now evolved and matured from a lender-borrower relations to a development partner.

The ministry said the WBG has provided advisory and knowledge services on a wide range of areas including productivity, investment, services sector development, education and skills training, “Malaysia looks forward to continue drawing on the WBG’s global network, knowledge and expertise to reinforce its capacity for the transformation to a high-income and developed nation.

“At the same time, we have shared our development experience in areas such as land development and settlement, SME development, central banking services and public administration with other developing countries through various platforms such as the Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme and Langkawi International Dialogue.

“The WBG is well positioned to connect middle-income countries such as Malaysia which do not borrow from it to share best practices,” the ministry added.

The WBG comprises five organisations, namely International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Agency, International Finance Cooperation, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. — Bernama