WARSAW, April 3, 2014 – World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Laura Tuck and World Bank Country Director for Central Europe and the Baltic countries Mamta Murthi visited Warsaw this week to take stock of the partnership between Poland and the World Bank and to discuss medium-term economic prospects and challenges for Poland and the region. This was Tuck’s first visit to Poland since becoming regional Vice President in September 2013.
“Poland is a strategic partner for the World Bank. We very much value our mutual cooperation and partnership,” said Laura Tuck, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, during her visit to Warsaw. “I am pleased to see that the Polish economy is on the rebound, thanks to a combination of sound policy actions by the Government and positive developments in the Eurozone. The challenge is now to sustain this growth, and to ensure that this renewed prosperity can be broadly shared, including by those with the lowest earnings. In this context, we look forward to working further with the authorities and to sharing international experience that can inform the design of specific reforms.”
During their visit, Tuck and Murthi met with Mateusz Szczurek, Minister of Finance; Zbigniew Klepacki, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development; Marek Belka, President of the National Bank of Poland and Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Tuck and Murthi focused on the development of the partnership between Poland and the Bank under the new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Poland for 2014-2017, and on challenges the region is facing and support that Poland and the Bank can provide.
Under the CPS, the World Bank is supporting the Government’s shared prosperity agenda and helping foster sustainable income growth for the 40 percent of the population with the lowest income.
The Bank’s current program for Poland focuses on competitiveness, including the business environment, support for innovation, and public finance; equity and inclusion, such as the labor market, reduction of regional disparities, health, and ageing; and sustainability, including the climate change policy, flood protection, and resource- efficient infrastructure.
The Bank also supports Poland’s emerging role as a global development partner and the country’s growing voice in the EU.
