Vice-President, Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS)

Joachim von Amsberg took over as Vice President, Operations Policy and Country Services on July 1, 2010.

Joachim, a German national, has held various positions in Washington and in the World Bank’s country offices.

He was Country Director for Indonesia for the last three years, overseeing one of the Bank’s largest country programs and country offices. He supported the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to improve the investment climate and service delivery to the poor through stronger governance; and led the Bank’s relationships and engagement with Indonesia, its Government, and other stakeholders, in close collaboration with IFC and MIGA.

As Country Director for the Philippines from 2004 -2007, Joachim led a new World Bank strategy for enhanced support to the Philippines. This strategy supported “Islands of Good Governance,” demonstrating how improved accountability and service delivery would lead to better economic and social outcomes. Under this strategy, World Bank programs were scaled up significantly, aligned more closely with the country’s own priorities, and implemented, as far as possible, through the country’s own systems and institutions.

Joachim began his career at the Bank in 1993 as an Economist and Young Professional. He worked on environmental programs and policy studies from 1994-97 for Argentina, Chile, and Paraguay, as well as on policy studies in Egypt. Subsequently, he worked for many years on the Bank’s Brazil program: as sector economist working on policy studies and projects in environmental management, rural and urban development; as country economist from 1997-2001 in the Brasilia country office focusing primarily on poverty strategies and policies; and from 2001-2004 as Lead Economist in Washington, where he led the economic policy dialogue, analytical and advisory assistance and adjustment lending programs for the Government of Brazil.

Joachim was a member of the steering committee that oversaw the preparation of the World Bank’s Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy. He was also an integral part of several task forces to strengthen the World Bank’s programs in support of middle income countries.

Joachim holds a Ph.D. in Finance and Economic Policy from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; an M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany; and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University of British Columbia.

July 1, 2010