WB head due in Manila today

World Bank president James D. Wolfensohn will arrive in Manila today (Feb. 24) to discuss with President Estrada, members of the Economic Coordinating Council and other government officials key policy reform measures aimed at reducing the country's poverty level from 32 percent in 1997 to 25-28 percent by 2004.

This will be the first visit of Wolfensohn to the Philippines since President Estrada assumed office on July 1, 1998. The last visit of Wolfensohn to the Philippines was in February 1998, a few months after the financial crisis hit the region.

Wolfensohn is also expected to tackle with government officials varying issues particularly the government's development plan including poverty, reduction, governance, economic and judicial reforms, and provision of social services to the poor.

Aside from this, the WB chief will also meet with donor community, business leaders, academics, trade union leaders, media, non-government organizations, and other representatives of civil society and the private sector to exchange views and widen each other's perspectives on a holistic and integrated approach to development.

These discussions will highlight interdependence of social, structural, human, institutional, environmental, economic and financial aspects of a development strategy.

Wolfensohn will be accompanied by his wife, Elaine Wolfensohn; vice president for East Asia Jean-Michel Severino; the newly-appointed VP for East Asia Jemal-ud-din Kassum; and the director for East Asia Private Sector Development Unit and International Finance Corp.'s department Javed Hamid.

Vinay Bhargava, WB country director for the Philippines, said the visit of Wolfensohn will further sharpen the bank's assistance to the country.

"The visit will also allow Mr. Wolfensohn to interact with the major key players in the development agenda in the Philippines, something that is very unique to the country as it is known for its vibrant and dynamic civil society," Bhargava said.

From Feb. 24 to 25, Wolfensohn is expected to meet with the heads of multilateral development agencies at the Asian Development Bank.

Before his visit to Manila, Wolfensohn visited Thailand, Indonesia, East Timor, and Vietnam.