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WASHINGTON : Robert Zoellick started work on Monday as the new president of the World Bank after a pay-and-promotion scandal toppled its last chief, Iraq war architect Paul Wolfowitz.
Zoellick arrived at the World Bank in Washington on Monday morning seeking to restore confidence in the multilateral lending and poverty-fighting organisation.
Wearing a grey suit and red tie, Zoellick entered the World Bank's imposing headquarters near the White House shortly after 8:00 am local time without speaking to the media.
The former top US diplomat and trade chief was welcomed on arriving at the bank by Paatii Ofosu-Amaah, a bank vice president and corporate secretary.
One of Zoellick's first priorities is likely to be a bid to restore confidence in the bank which was shook by a scandal that engulfed Wolfowitz and eventually forced his resignation after a brief two-year tenure.
Wolfowitz, a key architect of the Iraq war and former deputy defence secretary, resigned after an internal probe found he violated rules by arranging a lucrative pay-and-promotion package for his partner, a bank employee.
The revelations sparked a staff revolt after they became public and senior officials openly urged Wolfowitz to quit, although the former World Bank chief has maintained he acted in "good faith."
The shake-up at the top of the World Bank comes just days after the head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, announced his pending resignation from the World Bank's sister organisation.
Some analysts say the two institutions, forged from the ashes of World War II, are struggling to maintain their legitimacy amid a rapidly shifting global economic landscape.
A Harvard graduate who gave up a position at Goldman Sachs to take the World Bank's top job as its 11th president, Zoellick was selected for the post by US President George W. Bush.
He was the only candidate named to succeed Wolfowitz who was forced to step down on June 30. Zoellick had travelled overseas, including to Africa, to consult bank partners prior to his first day on the job.
In an unwritten rule, the US government traditionally selects who will lead the World Bank while the European Union decides who will run the IMF, which is based next door to the development lender.
"I am going to be focusing very heavily on the staff and getting to know the management. I want to give these people a sense that I know their qualities. People need to be treated with dignity," Zoellick told the Financial Times newspaper on Friday before taking over from Wolfowitz.
Aside from the Wolfowitz affair, Zoellick will also need to focus quickly on underpinning the thrust and legitimacy of the bank's anti-poverty missions. The institution is regularly criticised by poverty groups demanding lending reforms.
This past weekend witnessed a meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, at which the bank's lending capabilities were discussed and a further high-level meeting on the issue is expected to occur later this year.
Zoellick, who starts a five year term of office, also has to prepare for the bank's annual meetings when he will face finance ministers from the organisation's 185 member countries.
The assembly, which is scheduled for October, will coincide with the IMF's and ministers and critics alike will be keen to hear the new World Bank president lay out his future strategy for the institution.
The American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank, said on Monday that Wolfowitz had joined it as a visiting scholar. - AFP/de
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