Former World Bank President and Chairman of " Wolfensohn Capital " Corporation, Mr.James Wolfensohn will be addressing an audience comprising the Governors of the Central Banks of the Gulf countries and a host of prominent financial experts and delegates representing major regional and international banks and financial institutions at a special dinner banquet to be organized by NBK on 22nd of May at the Sheraton Hotel, Kuwait, in honor of the GCC Central Banks Governors attending the 8th GCC Banking Conference.
Mr.Wolfensohn, who is visiting Kuwait on an invitation by NBK as the guest of honor to the 8th GCC Banking Conference,will share with the audience his perspective on how the opportunities and challenges being faced by the GCC Banking Industry as well as economic and financial developments in the GCC.
Mr. Wolfensohn has had a long, visible and highly distinguished career in business, finance and public service. The central focus of his career has been investment banking and the economic development of emerging market economies. In addition to being Chairman of the General Partner and WFM, Mr. Wolfensohn is Chairman of Wolfensohn & Company, L.L.C., a private investment firm and an advisor to corporations and governments, Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Citigroup, Inc., and Chairman of the advisory group of the Wolfensohn Center for Development, a new research initiative focused on global poverty, at the Brookings Institution.
From 1995 to 2005, Mr. Wolfensohn was President of the World Bank and has the distinction of being only the third president in the World Bank’s history to be reappointed for a second five-year term by the Board of Executive Directors. As President of the World Bank, he traveled to more than 120 countries to help them face the challenges they confronted on poverty and environmental issues. He led successful initiatives on debt reduction, environmental sustainability, anti-corruption, and AIDS prevention and treatment. He developed activities on religion and culture and decentralized offices overseas linked by the most modern telecommunications system in the international community. During his tenure as President of the World Bank, Mr. Wolfensohn was also President of the International Finance Corporation (the “IFC”). Under his leadership, the IFC introduced a number of management and operational changes that improved the quality of its investment portfolio as well as the environmental and social sustainability of its investments.
Mr. Wolfensohn has served on the boards of several public and private companies, including CBS (1984-1995), Timeplex (1985-1987) and Continental Grain (1991-1994). Throughout his career, Mr. Wolfensohn has also closely involved himself in a wide range of cultural and volunteer activities. He has served as Chairman of the Board of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University for the last 18 years. In addition, Mr. Wolfensohn has been President of the International Federation of Multiple Sclerosis Societies, Director of the Business Council for Sustainable Development, Chairman of the Finance Committee and a Director of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Population Council, and a member of the Board of Rockefeller University. He is an Honorary Trustee of the Brookings Institution, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Century Association in New York.
Born in Australia in December 1933, Mr. Wolfensohn is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He holds B.A. and LL.B. degrees from the University of Sydney and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
In May 1995, he was awarded an Honorary Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the arts. Mr. Wolfensohn has also been decorated by the Governments of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Japan, Germany, Georgia, Mexico, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Pakistan and Russia.
