President of World Bank Group to pay official visit to Romania

The President of the World Bank Group, David Malpass, is going to pay his first official visit to Romania on Wednesday and Thursday.

According to a WB statement, the visit reaffirms the World Bank Group's commitment to support Romania in its efforts for sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

"The World Bank Group has a strong partnership with Romania. We will continue to support Romania's growth-oriented efforts based on macroeconomic stability, social inclusion and high-performing institutions. In this turbulent period in the region, we are ready to support Romania, which will continue to host the citizens who are coming from Ukraine, and we are going to continue to work with public authorities to improve the living standards of all Romanians," Malpass said.

During his visit, David Malpass will meet with representatives of the public sector and partners of the World Bank Group in Romania. He will have the opportunity to visit a project carried out with the assistance from the World Bank in the education sector, with a focus on supporting the Roma community.

David Malpass will be joined by Anna Bjerde, Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia, Gallina A. Vincelette, Director of the World Bank for the European Union, and Ary Naim, Regional Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for Central and and South-East Europe.

The active portfolio of the World Bank in Romania consists of nine investment projects worth a total of 1.78 billion US dollars and technical and analytical assistance services worth 124.62 million US dollars.

As of February 15, the IFC's commitment was 1.04 billion US dollars in more than 30 projects, of which 55pct were investments in financial institutions and the remaining 45pct were investments in the real sector. The IFC's exceptional portfolio amounts to 954.48 million US dollars, and the IFC's portfolio in Romania ranks 1st in the new IFC region in Europe.