The Netherlands is a founding member of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which was established in 1945 and initially helped to rebuild Europe after the war. The Netherlands was one of the first countries to receive a World Bank loan. Initial loans to the Netherlands helped to rebuild the economy, to modernize and expand the Royal Dutch Airlines fleet and to replenish the working capital of the ‘Reconstruction Bank’ (Herstelbank). Today, the Netherlands is a member of all five institutions that form the World Bank Group.

World Bank Governor
Each member country of the World Bank Group is represented on the Board of Governors, the senior decision-making body, which meets twice a year during the Spring and Annual Meetings. Generally, the Governors are government ministers, such as Ministers of Finance or Ministers of Development, who have specific power to admit and suspend members of the World Bank Group, to increase or decrease the authorized capital stock, to determine the distribution of the net income of the Bank, and to decide on the World Bank Group’s overall strategic direction, among others. The Netherlands' representatives on the Board of Governors are:

Governor: Jan Kees de Jager 
Finance Minister

Alternate Governor: Ben Knapen 
Minister for Foreign Affairs

World Bank Executive Director
Because the governors only meet annually, they delegate specific duties to 25 Executive Directors, who work on-site at the World Bank headquarters in Washington. The Netherlands shares its Board representation with Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Ukraine.

The Netherlands’ Executive Directors are:

Mr. Ruud Treffers
Executive Director for the Netherlands

Ms. Tamara Solyanyk
Alternate Executive Director for the Netherlands

Office of the Executive Director for the Netherlands 
Fax: +1 202 522 1572
Email: eds19@worldbank.org 

The Netherlands’ desk at the World Bank Paris Office
The Netherlands’ desk is responsible for the World Bank's dialogue with Dutch constituencies including government officials, parliamentarians, academia and think-tanks, CSO representatives, business and media contacts.