UAE- Remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim at World Government Summit

DUBAI 9th February 2016 (WAM)--World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has commended the UAE leaders for good governance that helped built the modern and dynamic UAE based on peace and prosperity urging the rest of the region to follow suit.

Kim praised Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for inviting the UAE's universities to identify a minister under age 25 to represent the youth and "give them a voice and role in governing the nation." This move he added "is among the most inspiring gestures in governance of this still-new year."

He also commended His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces for his pivotal role in the progress being experienced by the UAE.

In his key address here on Monday at World Government Summit he added input from communities and parents in Dubai has helped the Knowledge and Human Development Authority improve education quality. Today more than half of the emirate's students are in good or outstanding schools compared to 30 percent in 2010 and student achievement has steadily improved over the last five years.

Kim said the community engagement in Brazil and the UAE has helped their governments promote investment in peoplea second important element of inclusive governance. "We know that investing in people especially in their health and education is critical to promoting opportunity and prosperity."

He noted "We're a proud supporter of this event because good governance is the foundation for all development. Delivering quality public services and creating conditions that encourage businesses to create jobs are fundamental to building opportunity and prosperity for all."

Kim added that governments that invest in people's health and education also create a powerful counter-narrative to violent extremism. Instead of sowing seeds of discontent he added these governments promote opportunity and that opportunity if coupled with improving the business environment can lead to more job creation.

"Governments must ensure that the business environment helps spark innovation entrepreneurship and competitiveness. One example is China. China has produced a remarkable record of economic growth and job creation over the last 15 yearswith the vast majority of those jobs created by the private sector. In the last five yearsup to the end of 2015China created 64 million jobs" he added.

Kim noted that the focus of this year's conferenceshaping future governmentscomes at a pivotal moment in modern history. He added that the last year for the first time the rate of extreme poverty was projected to fall below 10 percent. "This is stunning progress. It means that today there are 1 billion fewer people living in extreme poverty than 15 years ago. But more than 700 million people still live on less than about $2 dollars a day."

He added that based on research and experience three things have been critical to reducing poverty and boosting prosperity: inclusive economic growth investments in people's health and education and insuring against risks that can plunge the vulnerable into poverty risks like unemployment illness climate change and pandemics. "Shaping future governments so they deliver on these responsibilities is our shared responsibility and essential to achieving our twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity."

He acknowledged that achieving won't be easy citing that the economic growththe most powerful poverty reduction force the world has ever knownis slowing globally. "Warmer temperatures potentially linked to climate change made 2015 the hottest year in history; and the most powerful El Nino on record is affecting the lives and livelihoods of billions across the globe. Many parts of the world are becoming more fragile making quality leadership and good governance ever more important."

Kim noted that many emerging markets are suffering sharp reductions in growth because of declining demand from China and lower commodity prices.

He added that the Middle East and North Africa in particular have been deeply affected by these changes. Lower oil prices are forcing governments across the region to reevaluate policies that have been in place for decades. Kim said the economies dominated by large firms are not producing enough jobs and this is true for countries that both export and import oil. Furthermore economies dominated by fossil fuels are currently not earning enough oil revenues to support large public sector expenditures and fuel subsidies.

This decline in economic prospects Kim continued are causing increasing fragility in a region that has already experienced too much instability. Conflicts have now forcibly displaced 15 million people in the Middle East and North Africa contributing to the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. Fresh water and fertile farmland are becoming scarcer creating more potential flashpoints. The human development consequences are worrying.

The World Bank Group chief underlined that the demands for good governance in fact are not a recent phenomenon adding that the demands are rooted in the traditions and history of many cultures including the Arab and Islamic world. The scholar Imam Muslim recounted words said by the prophet quote "One whom I appoint to a public office must render account on everything big and small."

He added that the Arab philosopher Ibn Khaldoun wrote in his opus the Muqqaddimah that the social compact between the individual and tribes was a sacred bond based on mutual accountability protection and proper and reliable delivery of such basic services as security and justice. Ibn Khaldoun said the worst kind of state is a tyranny wherein government usurps property rights and rules with injustice against the rights of men.

Kim noted that answer is an inclusive governance which is a social compact between government officials and their citizens. "This is based on three principles: first governments must be transparent in their actions and fully engage with citizens. Second governments must invest in their people to give them opportunity to reach their full potential and third governments must create business environments that encourage innovation competition and private sector investment which will in turn create jobs and increase economic growth."

He said violent extremists are using these challenging circumstances to rally recruits to their causewith global implications. "Deadly attacks in West and East Africa North America South and East Asia and Europe show that all of us have a stake in shaping future governments that are capable of tackling these challenges" he added.

Kim said last week in London "we committed to using innovative financial tools to provide new support to Jordan and Lebanon Syria's neighbors who have been shouldering so much of the burden in hosting Syrian refugees. First our Board of Directors is working with World Bank Group management on an extraordinary measure to provide $200 million dollars in direct concessional financing to create jobs and increase access to education in Lebanon and Jordan Second with assistance from the UN and the Islamic Development Bank we're seeking donors who will provide $1 billion dollars in grants that will then be leveraged to supply $3 to $4 billion dollars in concessional financing to help fund public service delivery and other needs."

He noted that these new financing initiatives combined with World Bank existing programmes are expected to total about $20 billion dollars in the next five yearswhich "is roughly triple our investment in the region from the previous five years."

Kim pledged that the World Bank would continue to work with the UAE to share its successes with other countries around the world.