Starting today, Ary Naїm becomes the World Bank Group Country Manager for Poland, a position that will unify country-level leadership across the institution to better support the country's public and private sector priorities. This newly created position provides a single point of contact for access to the full breadth of World Bank Group products and services and will enhance the institutions' ability to address global challenges, and drive development with speed, efficiency, and impact.
"After decades of development success, and within a more challenging global context, Poland has an opportunity to push the innovation frontier, advance to the next stage of productivity growth, and achieve convergence with the highest EU living standards," said Ary Naïm. "In this new phase, the World Bank Group Joint Representation will strengthen our partnership with the government, the private sector, and ultimately the Polish people."
In Poland, the World Bank Group works to support the government's efforts to improve the air quality and energy efficiency of single-family buildings; develop a long-term care system; draft a new state purchasing strategy and improve flood and drought prevention. The new Country Partnership Framework to be developed in partnership with the Government of Poland will reflect this unified approach and will focus on delivering high-value-added projects to support the creation of global public goods, boost private capital mobilization, catalyze green innovation, and increase the resilience of the Polish Economy.
A French national and a former banker, Ary Naїm began his career in the commercial banking sector in France and later in Morocco before joining IFC in 2003. Since then he held several positions including serving as IFC Country Head for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, IFC Country Manager for Mexico, and IFC Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe, based in Belgrade and, more recently, in Warsaw.
The introduction of joint country representation is an important step towards building a stronger World Bank Group. Poland is one of 21 World Bank Group offices transitioning to a single World Bank Group Country Manager or Resident Representative for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
