WB economist moves to Tokyo

WB economist moves to Tokyo

TOKYO (AFP): The World Bank's chief economist for East Asia, Masahiro Kawai, has moved to Tokyo from Washington to get closer to regional clients, the organisation said Monday.

Kawai, a former University of Tokyo economics professor who joined the World Bank in 1998, said he would promote enhanced ties "with the Japanese and other Asian governments and the region's academics and researchers."

The World Bank would also be able to work more closely with regional bodies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, 52-year-old Kawai said in a statement.

The Washington-based bank took part in multi-billion-dollar bailouts organised by its sister organisation, the International Monetary Fund, for Thailand, South Korea and Indonesia in 1997.