KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — The planned World Bank Group office in Kuala Lumpur will broaden and deepen its ongoing partnership with Malaysia.         

The Government of Malaysia and the World Bank Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday in Washington, to work towards opening a World Bank Group office in Kuala Lumpur, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement released today.         

The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Washington.  

The main long-term objective of the office is to facilitate the sharing of Malaysia’s successful development experience — in areas such as poverty eradication and development of a sound financial sector — with other developing countries around the world.          

The World Bank Group’s local presence will also allow Malaysia to leverage directly further global knowledge and expertise of the World Bank to enhance capacity essential for its transformation into a high-income economy.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah noted that: “As a country that has made tremendous strides to eradicate poverty and increase the welfare of the bottom 40 per cent of our population, Malaysia is particularly well-placed to collaborate with the World Bank Group to achieve its goals of eradicating extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity globally.”      

Ahmad Husni is leading the Malaysian delegation to the Spring Meetings from April 11 to 13, 2014.

The 89th meeting of the Development Committee was held today with the agenda “Growth in the Post-Crisis Global Economy: Policy Challenges for Developing Countries.”

Among the areas of discussion at the Development Committee are managing the post-crisis transition, boosting longer-term growth and policies for strong, inclusive and sustainable growth.

Meanwhile, World Bank Vice President for East Asia, Axel van Trotsenburg said: “The Malaysia office fits the broader context of the World Bank’s strategic engagement with middle income countries, recognising Malaysia’s success as a rising upper middle income country and its role both as a client and a partner in advancing global development.”         

Malaysia has successfully steered its development journey from a low-income economy dependent mostly on agriculture and with a per capita Gross National Income (GNI) of US$330 (RM1,068) in 1970 to become an upper-middle income country with GNI per capita of US$10,265.             

Currently, the country is in the transition phase to become a developed economy with high income by 2020. — Bernama