"The Russians are in good stead with the World Bank Group, and have endorsed our goal of ending extreme poverty," Kim stated in his address on extreme global poverty at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.
Kim said he believes Russia will help The World Bank push forward with its "Grow, Invest and Insure" strategy, focusing on the growth and invest elements as most important.
"The world economy has to go faster and grow more sustainably with the poor receiving more benefits of the economic growth," Kim said. "Government policies must prioritize policies that help the poor."
Kim added it is also important to ensure that governments guarantee citizens have access to clean water and sanitation facilities because they will impact future opportunities just as investments in women allow for healthier children.
He explained that doctors in public clinics spend only 29 minutes seeing patients, while teachers being absent 25 percent of the time in public schools.
"The levels of learning with young people, 30 percent with 6 years of schooling in Kenya do not have the basic reading skills," Kim said. "It has a devastating impact on them [young Kenyans] when they look for jobs."
"If investment banks work together, we will all benefit," the World Bank President said. "It is our hope they will join multilateral banks and the private sector. I will do everything I can do to find innovative ways to work with them."
Kim said $1-1.5 trillion is invested in infrastructure each year in the developed world, and the number needs to keep growing to continue improving the world’s crumbling infrastructure.
"We are talking about trillions of dollars for economic development to leverage private sector development to create businesses and jobs," Kim said.
The World Bank President explained that there are 7.2 billion people today, and 12 percent of them live in extreme poverty.
"Over the past 25 years, poverty has decreased, but there is still some living on less than a $1.00 a day," he added.
Kim concluded that governments must be accountable as being accountable is the only way to fix the issue of extreme poverty.
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programs.
