-As Senior Finance Minister welcomes new World Bank Division Director for the Caribbean, incoming World Bank Representative
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance Dr. Ashni Singh yesterday welcomed new World Bank Division Director for the Caribbean Mr. Achim Fock during a meeting at the Ministry of Finance as the new Director commences his tenure. Dr. Singh was accompanied by a team from the Ministry of Finance while Mr. Fock was accompanied by outgoing World Bank Representative for Guyana and Suriname Ms. Diletta Doretti, incoming World Bank Representative for Guyana and Suriname Mr. Juan Carlos Alvarez and other officials of the international financial institution.
During the meeting, Minister Singh and the officials discussed continued partnership between the bank and government while he also expressed appreciation for the work already done over the last years as government and the financial institution liaised on several successful projects which contributed to not only transformation in various economic sectors but allowed for much of the transformation countrywide.
Some of the projects on which the bank and government collaborated include the Guyana One Health, the Caribbean Efficient and Green Buildings, the Human Capital Development and Integrated Transport Corridor Projects.
Mr. Fock, a German national, is qualified in the areas of agriculture and agricultural economics while he also holds more than 25 years of professional experience with the World Bank. He managed the Development Effectiveness Unit for South Asia and was Senior Economist for several countries in Africa, East Asia, and eastern Europe.
The incoming World Bank Representative for Guyana and Suriname, Mr. Alvarez is replacing outgoing World Bank Representative Ms. Diletta Doretti who has completed her tenure in Guyana.
The World Bank is one of the international financial institutions which played a key role in supporting Guyana during its late 1980s and early 1990s economic crises that lasted throughout the then tenure of the People’s National Congress (PNC). It took much work and dedication by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) which was elected to office in 1992 to take the country out of its debt situation. During that period, the Bank assisted government with reforms along with international financial programs that helped restore the country’s fiscal solvency and debt relief eligibility, a long road which has now led to where Guyana currently stands at economic and landscape transformation driven by offshore oil with a thriving and diversified economy.