Since its inception in 1945, the World Bank Group has been a major provider of financial advice and assistance to various developing nations all over the world. With 185 member countries as the Bank’s shareholders, the organization concentrates on initiatives such as the reduction of poverty and the improvement of living conditions in developing countries. David Dollar is currently the World Bank Country Director for China and Mongolia.
Having been the Country Director for three years, David Dollar’s primary duty is to oversee the World Bank’s operations in the two neighboring nations and to guarantee that diplomatic relations between the Bank and the host countries are well-maintained. “I’m basically the head of the operation,” Dollar says. “I set the broad strategy and work with Chinese counterparts to decide on what we’re going to do, and I have a large and highly qualified staff to carry out our activities.” In supervising the implementation of the World Bank’s programs in China and Mongolia, Dollar has found a great reservoir of insight into the development needs of both countries by freely interacting with the local communities and acquainting himself with the nuances of their culture. “I enjoy getting out and seeing different parts of China and Mongolia and talking to people to see what they think their main problems are,” Dollar explains. “China is a big, diverse country, and Mongolia is quite different from it. It’s interesting to see these two cultures at a local level.”
Nonetheless, Dollar acknowledges that certain impediments are occasionally encountered in the execution of the Bank’s programs. “China is the most successful World Bank program, so we work with over a hundred different cities and with a lot of rural communities,” he says. “Over 90 percent of our projects are successful, so we do meet our objectives. It’s rewarding, but it’s also quite difficult and challenging.” In some cases, he says, much collaborative work and research must be accomplished before viable solutions to a development issue are attained. And although the differences between China and Mongolia are remarkably pronounced ? with the former emerging as an economic force to reckon with and the latter retaining a considerable part of its nomadic tradition ? Dollar observes that the primary challenges that both countries need to wrestle with are ultimately very concurrent, particularly in the area of urban development. “Many Mongolians have moved to the major city of Ulaanbataar, and that area is beginning to show some problems with air pollution and traffic management, issues which are similar to what Chinese cities are struggling with.”
Before becoming the Country Director for China and Mongolia, Dollar, a U.S. national, worked as the Director for the Bank’s Development Research Department. Prior to his exposure to the international development scene, however, Dollar was part of the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of California. He also holds a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University and a B.A. in Chinese History and Language from Dartmouth College.
Despite the range of challenges that the World Bank needs to hurdle in assisting China and Mongolia towards sustainable economic growth, Dollar remains optimistic, most especially about China’s prospects. He believes that although China is presently contending with some serious environmental concerns, the country can very well penetrate the heart of these problems and find appropriate solutions for them. “It’s uncharted territory for a country this big to grow so quickly and emerge very suddenly in the world scene as a major economic player,” Dollar muses. “It’s fascinating to work on the issues, and it’s also interesting to just sit back and watch what?s happening. In many ways, China’s story is the most important story in the world right now.”
