Tuluy Met President Morales and Ministers
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, August 15, 2012 – After concluding a three-day official visit on Wednesday, the World Bank (WB) Vice-president for Latin America and the Caribbean, Turkish-born Hasan Tuluy, highlighted the progress achieved by Bolivia following the new 2012-2015 Country Partnership Strategy and identified areas in which the World Bank could continue to support the country through financing, technical assistance, and knowledge exchange.
Tuluy met President Evo Morales in the historic city of Tiwanaku, a ceremonial center of the Aymara culture that flourished between 1500 BC to 1000 AD, located 20 km southeast of Lake Titicaca and 71 km northwest of La Paz, where they talked about issues related to Bolivia’s development priorities, especially the areas of poverty reduction, social inclusion, and indigenous populations.
The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, commented: “Now is the time to liberate ourselves economically and build a new plurinational State from the municipal, provincial and national levels, economically empower social movements, especially in rural areas where we have historically been abandoned.Tthis is what programs such as Rural Partnerships Project, My Water and Bolivia Changes Program, respond to... providing families with an opportunity they have never had… We thank the World Bank and the Danish Embassy for these loans and donations.”
The Head of State added that “with the experience of local producers, we will be able to generate new social proposals in economic terms, it will be important to continue counting with the support of international organizations and embassies.”
Tuluy’s visit, which started on Monday, included meetings with national authorities, such as Vice-president Alvaro Garcia Linera; Development Planning Minister Luis Arce, and Finance and Public Finance Minister Viviana Caro, as well as La Paz Mayor Luis Revilla.
Tuluy expressed his satisfaction after the meetings, saying that “we agreed that the economic growth achieved by Bolivia in recent years can create a situation of wellbeing from which citizens can benefit following a greater social inclusion of the most vulnerable.”
It is expected that growth this year —despite the global economic uncertainty— will reach around 4 percent.
After his meeting with Morales, Tuluy visited the Rural Partnerships Project Fair, an initiative financed by the World Bank and carried out by the Rural Development Ministry. The project links technology and knowledge to improve the quality of produce and increase the income of rural workers through a renewed access to markets. It has benefited approximately 800 production partnerships and 30,000 beneficiary families since it began in 2007.
The World Bank senior official also met representatives from the private sector and multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, in order to articulate the World Bank’s vision with respect to the opportunities and challenges faced by Latin America and Bolivia in particular.
Every one of these meetings allowed him to get acquainted with different points of view and opinions on how to improve the support of the World Bank for Bolivia’s development, and doing so in a way consistent with the Bolivian model and the country’s priorities. “I want to show that the World Bank is a trustworthy partner for the Plurinational State of Bolivia on issues pertaining to its development and poverty reduction objectives. During my encounters with President Morales, the Ministers of Finance and Planning, among others, I sought to strengthen our relationship of cooperation even further,” Tuluy added.
Hasan Tuluy also visited other World Bank projects such as La Paz True Neighborhoods and Communities and the El Alto Open Air Youth Art Gallery, where he had an extensive dialogue with beneficiaries of these initiatives.
The World Bank portfolio in Bolivia includes 13 investment projects totaling approximately US$450 million. The partnership between the country and the Bank is based on 4 pillars:
— Sustainable Productive Development;
— Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management;
— Human Development; and
— Access to basic services and support for public sector efficiency.
The multilateral institution recognizes that social inclusion and equality of opportunities for indigenous people are crucial for Bolivia’s development. In that context, it offers financing services, specialized knowledge and global expertise adapted to the country’s needs and priorities.
