Welcoming AIIB to fight poverty
- By Jim Yong Kim
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E-mail China Daily, June 8, 2015
At the World Bank Group, we firmly believe that establishing time-bound targets will help meet our objectives. We have set two goals: to end extreme poverty by 2030 and increase the incomes and wellbeing of the poorest 40 percent of people in developing countries.
To reach those targets, we now are collaborating with governments to create customized poverty reduction programs. These plans are based on analyses of a wide range of local factors, including demography and location of people living in extreme poverty. These plans also will highlight numerous types of investments that countries need to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. Many of these projects will surely be led by our partners.
When I was in Jakarta, I met with country leaders, including President Joko Widodo, and was impressed with their vision to boost the economy and to fight poverty. I also learned much more about Indonesia's development needs, ranging from dealing with health crises (childhood stunting is estimated at 37 percent) to its infrastructure gap estimated at more than $600 billion in the next five years.
As part of my trip, I visited two ports - Sunda Kelapa Harbor and Tanjung Priok Port. Sunda Kelapa is an old port that accommodates two-masted wooden sailing ships and where laborers use their backs to lift tons of cargo into the hulls of the ships. Tanjung Priok, in contrast, is an industrialized port in which huge container cranes lift 20-foot containers onto the decks of modern freighters.
In this tale of two ports, it was clear that investing in Indonesia's port infrastructure could reap huge benefits for the economy. One port authority told me that if Indonesia can reduce its logistics costs from the current 24 percent of gross domestic product to 16 percent - the same as Thailand's - it can save an estimated $70 billion to $80 billion a year and attract more global manufacturers.
That's the core of our work: To help countries find solutions to their most vexing development challenges and build their economies. This will create jobs and boost the earnings of the poor. For Indonesia and the rest of Asia, more partners means more development. And more development means we can end extreme poverty.
The author is the president of the World Bank Group.
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