10. Speeches of World Bank Presidents [collection under construction]

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Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Future of Digital Cooperation Event: Building Resilience Through Safe, Trusted, and Inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-09-21) Malpass, David

This report discusses the readout from World Bank Group President David Malpass’s meeting at the Future of Digital Cooperation Event: Building Resilience Through Safe, Trusted, and Inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure. There have been severe reversals in development, and global policy trends suggest these will persist. Digital public infrastructure is a vital part of our response. Digital identification, payment, and data sharing platforms have made it possible for countries to respond more effectively, more transparently, at a greater speed and scale, and with more security and privacy. The World Bank Group is engaged across all these elements and our operations with significant digital components have been growing. Our portfolio stands at nearly 4.7 billion dollars. Through country engagements, we support our clients to boost mobile phone networks and remove regulatory barriers to foster access to finance. We are helping with the adoption of e-government platforms and the modernization of social protection systems. Our Global Findex database shows that 71 percent of adults in developing economies now have a formal financial account, often a bank account, compared to 42 percent a decade ago. It is critical to build on this trend. Expanding access to finance, reducing the cost of digital transactions, and channeling wage payments and social transfers through accounts will be critically important to mitigate the reversals in development from the ongoing turbulence.
Introductory Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the State of the Global Economy Event Organized by Brookings Institution

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-07-13) Malpass, David

These opening remarks were made by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the State of the Global Economy Event Organized by Brookings Institution on July 13, 2022. Mr. Malpass said the world is facing multiple crises, including the sharpest slowdown in GDP growth in 80 years, the risk of a frozen crisis in Ukraine due to Russia's invasion, and a massive worsening in global inequality as advanced economies absorb the limited supplies of global capital and energy. Global growth is not expected to rebound in 2023, given energy supply constraints; the long overdue normalization of interest rates and bond yields in the advanced economies; and the misallocation of investments that has pushed much of the world’s savings into bonds, mostly bonds issued by governments and overcapitalized borrowers. The global economy is also facing significant downside risks. These include intensifying geopolitical tensions, the fragility in many countries, the potential for an extended period of stagflation, the widespread financial stress that's caused by the higher borrowing costs, and food insecurity.
Transcript of Conversation with David Malpass and Samantha Power on the Way Forward

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-06-21) Malpass, David ; Power, Samantha

These remarks were delivered by the World Bank Group President David Malpass in conversation with Samantha Power, USAID Administrator on June 21, 2022. They discussed about the impact of overlapping global crises on the poorest and most vulnerable people. The world, as people know, is in a very complicated situation, especially for people in poorer countries and the poor worldwide. It has to do with inflation, with food, with conflict, fragility, issues that we work with every day at the World Bank and USAID does, too. As people know, the World Bank works on an array of development issues and including and especially right now food and fertilizer. We have announced 30 billion dollars of assistance in the food-related areas as part of our response to the current set of crises. And one of the challenges is, in specific country areas, to find the right program. And we work very, very closely with development assistance agencies around the world, including and especially USAID.
Transcript of Conversation with David Malpass and Masood Ahmed on the Way Forward

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-05-26) Malpass, David ; Ahmed, Masood

These remarks were delivered by the World Bank Group President David Malpass in conversation with Masood Ahmed, the President of the Center for Global Development on May 26, 2022. They both discussed on the following topis: (i) respond to the COVID crisis and now to the latest set of crises from Russia's invasion of Ukraine; (ii) the world moves away from the dependence on Russian energy, then new supplies will be vital; (iii) COVID Vaccination; (iv) fighting climate change; (v) global public goods; (vi) climate change action plan; (vii) climate financing; (viii) sustainable debt finance process; (ix) food security and infrastructure development; (x) possible global recession; (xi) education sector; (xii) human capital index; (xiii) the G7 communique; and (xiv) low-income households.
Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at Fragility Forum 2022: Development and Peace in Uncertain Times

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-07) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at Fragility Forum 2022, Development and Peace in Uncertain Times on March 7, 2022. He said that there are no words to express the horror of the Ukrainian people, and the World Bank Group is doing everything it can to assist Ukraine and the region. He spoke about the largest refugee flow in Europe since WW2. He explained that they are assessing the consequences and how the WBG can respond, both in eastern Europe and in fragile countries around the world. He was hoping this fragility forum will confront challenges and provide new ideas on how the international community can more effectively help people facing conflict and fragility. He mentioned the following: (i) first, we are living in a world where protracted armed conflict keeps increasing, as we have seen in the Middle East and Africa, where immensely destructive impacts are reversing decades of progress in development; (ii) second, the pandemic has hit societies that are already in turmoil, food systems that are already impacted by climate change, and populations already displaced by conflict; (iii) third, climate change is a threat multiplier, placing major strain on economies and societies, particularly in fragile settings; and (iv) equally worrying are the new acute and destabilizing political crises, including coups d’états, as well as the unfreezing of old conflicts and the emergence of new inter-state wars. He highlighted that the World Bank Group has been active in fragile settings from our very inception and the support to countries affected by fragile, conflict, and violence (FCV) has deepened over the last decade. He spoke about their current FCV strategy provides a basis for differentiating their response at every stage of fragility and conflict as follows: helping prevent or mitigate risks in fragile environments; ensuring that they remain engaged in active crises and conflicts; and working to ensure sustainable recovery in post-crisis transitions. He hopes that the discussions during the Forum will help deepen our understanding of challenges related to fragility and set the concrete actions and priorities for the international community, for governments, and for people working to reverse the alarming trends we are seeing now.
World Bank Group Press Conference at the 2021 Spring Meetings, April 7, 2021

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04-07) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank, discussed vaccines, climate, and debt. The World Bank commitments grew a record amount both in percent terms and dollar terms in 2020. The Bank is providing financing for several of the countries and they can be large-scale programs, but the countries are working to arrange delivery schedules from the various vaccine providers. That will be an important part of the recovery. The Bank completed a big vaccination operation through Board, which makes financing available to Bangladesh and also technical assistance from the World Bank, which is very helpful to the countries as they try to enter contract discussions, and also as they work within their health systems in order to vaccinate people. The Bank is working actively on biodiversity and agricultural challenges facing Brazil.
Speech at the 2020 Annual Meetings Plenary

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-15) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank, spoke about what the World Bank Group has accomplished since last year’s Annual Meetings, particularly the response to COVID-19 and progress made on debt transparency. The COVID-19 pandemic’s toll has been enormous, and people in the poorest countries are likely to suffer the longest and hardest. In response, the approach at the World Bank Group has been comprehensive, focused on saving lives, protecting the poor and vulnerable, working toward sustainable business growth, and rebuilding in better ways. He touched on the four most urgent aspects of this work: 1) poverty and inequality; 2) human capital; 3) debt burdens; and 4) fostering an inclusive and resilient recovery. The scale of the challenges ahead is staggering. IDA-19’s three-year envelope of USD82 billion will not be nearly enough to meet the needs of the world’s poorest countries at this desperate time. IDA has taken broad and fast action to frontload IDA-19 resources and provide surge financing this year to support the initial efforts to address the economic and health impacts of COVID. A USD25 billion supplemental COVID emergency financing package will avert a “financing cliff” in FY22-23 and make available additional resources to IDA countries to support their recoveries.
Remarks at High-Level Event on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05-28) Malpass, David

David Malpass, World Bank Group President, spoke at the United Nations high-level event on financing for development in the era of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Beyond. He spoke about two institutions, the IMF and World Bank working closely together on financial and economic challenges, including and especially those affecting the world’s poor. He highlighted on the announcement of milestone by IMF and World Bank Group that emergency health operations approved and up and running in over hundred developing countries. He described the new support programs that, in following weeks, will help developing countries overcome the pandemic and reclaim focus on growth and sustainable development. He invited the participants of the UN event to join the efforts with additional financing. He strongly welcomed the prompt support of the G20 countries for a suspension of debt service by all official bilateral creditors, which included G20 endorsement for comparable treatment by commercial creditors. He said that the World Bank Group is supporting countries that are participating in the moratorium. He welcomed President Xi Jinping’s recent commitment to China’s full participation in the debt moratorium. He invited commercial creditors to agree on terms of reference to encourage their participation, especially given the focus of the initiative on debt relief for the IDA countries, the world’s poorest. He mentioned that the UN’s call for Multilateral Development Bank debt suspension would be harmful to the world’s poorest countries. He spoke about the recent mischaracterizations by parts of the UN regarding the World Bank Group’s involvement as an observer to Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan’s negotiations regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. He concluded by saying that the World Bank Group now has available COVID-19 financing programs in over one hundred developing countries, and invited use of those pathways to expand the financing of the health emergency and expand the response so that we can meet the full brunt of the crisis in the world’s poorest countries.
Remarks During Press Call on 100 Countries Milestone for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Emergency Health Support

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-05-19) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank, discussed the severe health and economic impacts that the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and shut down have inflicted on developing countries. The World Bank Group’s goal was to provide rapid, flexible responses to developing countries. That’s a way to protect the poorest, by providing cash and other expandable support on debt, also to maintain the private sector and bolster the economic recovery. He announced that the World Bank Group will finance emergency programs in 100 countries - that’s home to 70 percent of the world’s population. The programs are tailored to the countries to effectively respond to the health, economic, and social shocks that that country are facing. On May 1 the Bank marked the start of an official bilateral debt payment suspension for International Development Association (IDA) countries, those that request forbearance. It is an initiative launched with the International Monetary Fund (IMF’s) Managing Director in March and it was quickly endorsed by the G20 countries.
Opening Remarks at the 2019 Annual Meetings Opening Press Conference

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-10-17) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, highlighted the urgent priorities for discussion with shareholders. Global growth is slowing. Investment is sluggish, manufacturing activity is soft, and trade is weakening. The challenges of climate change and fragility are making poor countries more vulnerable. This backdrop makes our goals of reducing extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity even harder. He suggested that with the right mix of policies and structural reforms, countries can unleash growth that's broadly shared across all segments of society. He spoke about how the Bank is helping countries build strong programs tailored to the unique circumstances of their economies. He highlighted the importance of education. He mentioned the proposed IDA replenishment, and reaffirmed commitment to projects on climate and on gender inclusion. In conclusion, he said that the well-designed structural reforms are needed to unlock growth and build the foundations for future prosperity.