Mr. Ulrich Zachau is Director of the World Bank for Colombia and Venezuela. He is responsible for leading the dialogue with the government and for designing and implementing a work program to support the efforts of the authorities to reduce poverty, promote shared prosperity and generate jobs.

Mr. Zachau, a German national, joined the World Bank Group in 1988. He has held various staff and management positions at the World Bank, including as Director of Strategy and Operations for Latin America and the Caribbean (2003-2006) and for East Asia and the Pacific (2012-2013), and as Country Director for Brazil (2005), Turkey (2007-2011), the Pacific (2012), and Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand) (2013-2017). Has has been the Director for Malaysia, Thailand, and Regional Partnerships since July 2017, before being appointed as Country Director for Colombia and Venezuela, effective July 2018.

Mr. Zachau holds degrees in mathematics and economics from the University of Munich and a Ph. D. degree in economics from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Before joining the World Bank, he worked for McKinsey & Co and taught economics at the University of Bonn.