WASHINGTON, January 9, 2020—World Bank Group President David Malpass today announced the appointment of Mari Pangestu as Managing Director, Development Policy and Partnerships for the World Bank. Ms Pangestu joins the Bank with exceptional policy and management expertise, having served as Indonesia’s Minister of Trade from 2004 to 2011 and as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2011 until October 2014.
“We’re very pleased to welcome Mari to the Bank in this critical new role for the institution,” said Malpass. “Her experience as a senior Minister, her globally recognized credentials as an economist and researcher, along with her extensive leadership experience and engagement in key international forums on important development issues, will greatly benefit our urgent work at the World Bank Group in support of broad-based growth and poverty reduction.”
Ms Pangestu is currently a Senior Fellow at Columbia School of International and Public Affairs, as well as Professor of International Economics at the University of Indonesia, adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University.and a Board Member of Indonesia Bureau of Economic Research (IBER) as well as Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta.
Upon accepting the appointment Ms Pangestu said: “It is a great honor to be joining the World Bank in its vital development mission. I look forward to the opportunity to work with this strong team on the urgent challenges facing the World Bank’s members”.
Ms Pangestu is highly regarded as an international expert on a range of global issues. She currently is Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in Washington D.C and is also active as advisor to the Global Commission on the Geopolitics of Energy Transformation of International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi. Her record of board and task force service includes the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), co-chair of the expert group for the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the panel of the WHO health initiative, the Equal Access Initiative, commissioner for the Low Carbon Development Initiative of Indonesia and executive board member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
In her new role Ms Pangestu will provide leadership to and oversee the work program of the World Bank’s Global Practice Groups. In addition, she will also oversee the research and data group of the World Bank (DEC) and the External and Corporate Relations function.
Her appointment is effective March 1, 2020.