President of the World Bank (WB) Jim Yong Kim is visiting Indonesia from May 19-22 in an effort to strengthen the group’s partnership with the country.

It is his first visit to the world’s fourth most populous country since he assumed the presidency in July 2012.

Kim said in a release on May 18 that Indonesia is one of the WB’s most important shareholders and the group’s office in Jakarta, which opened in 1968, was the first country office outside Washington D.C.

He confirmed the continued support of the WB to Indonesia for the nation’s mission to reduce poverty and distribute prosperity more widely across the archipelago.

Citing the fact that Indonesia has lowered its poverty rate to 11.3 percent over the past 15 years, he believed the nation should be proud of its significant achievements.

The WB President is scheduled to meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Finance Minister Bamband Brodjonegoro and other governmental officials and business people.

He will also visit the Rekompak project to rebuild Indonesian communities after disasters, a public primary healthcare centre, the Sunda Kelapa Port and Tanjung Priok Port and speak at the University of Indonesia in central Jakarta on May 21.

WB East Asia and Pacific regional Vice President Axel van Trotsenburg, Bank Country Director in Indonesia Rodrigo A. Chaves and International Finance Corporation (IFC) Director for East Asia and the Pacific Vivek Pathak will accompany Kim during the visit.-VNA