Singapore, February 1, 2018 – Ms. Jyoti Shukla, the newly appointed World Bank Director for the Singapore Hub for Infrastructure and Urban Development, looks forward to further strengthening collaboration with the country poised to become Asia’s top destination for infrastructure expertise.
“Within a generation, Singapore transformed itself into a high-income country and is sharing its inspiration and extensive know-how with developing economies,” Ms. Shukla said. “We value our strong partnership with Singapore, working together on cutting-edge infrastructure development and finance programs, as well as sustainable urban growth and competitiveness initiatives”.
Managers and specialists on a variety of fields across the World Bank Group are based in the Hub – from energy, transport, ICT and water resources, to infrastructure finance, trade and connectivity. The office mobilizes roughly US$ 3 billion of World Bank infrastructure projects, primarily across the East Asia and Pacific Region, from China to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.
In the short and medium term, the Hub will leverage Singapore’s preeminence in finance, particularly on infrastructure development. The Hub’s unique value proposition as a one World Bank Group office – co-locating the International Finance Corporation (IFC), including its Asia treasury functions, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) – helps it function as a catalyst for more private sector participation in development financing. The Hub will also continue to promote Singapore’s development expertise, including the country’s innovations in sustainable and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Formerly the Director for the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice, Ms. Shukla has held multiple leadership roles in the World Bank, including as Senior Manager of the Water and Sanitation Program; Senior Manager of the Sustainable Development program for the South Asia Region; Sector Manager for the Energy sector in South Asia; Manager of the Sustainable Development program for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region; and Program Manager of the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility.
Ms. Shukla, an Indian national, holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics as well as a Master in Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Before joining the World Bank, she held a faculty position at Princeton University and worked with a development consulting firm in India.
