The FINANCIAL -- The World Bank ’s new Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Pamela Cox will be in Tokyo next week on her first visit to Japan since her appointment on January1st this year.

Ms. Cox, a development professional with more than 30 years experience across regions, will meet with senior Japanese government officials, policy makers and opinion leaders to reaffirm the longstanding and successful partnership between Japan and the World Bank in the region. She will also discuss collaboration for the success of the World Bank -IMF Annual Meetings which will be held in Japan in October this year.

According to The World Bank , in Tokyo, Ms. Cox will also launch a new World Bank guidebook “Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management for the 21st Century”, produced with the financial support of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery and in cooperation with partners including the Japan International Cooperation Agency .

Disaster risk management is an area where Ms. Cox brings considerable expertise from her previous position as Vice President for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, which also faces high risks from natural disasters. There, she played a leading role in supporting inclusive growth in emerging economies, providing innovative financial and knowledge services to meet developing country needs.

Ms. Cox is well acquainted with the region having worked earlier in her career as Chief of Country Operations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Korea.

As Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, Ms. Cox will manage staff working across 22 countries and a US$ 29.7 billion lending portfolio. Projected World Bank lending for the region –both for low- and middle-income countries— in the 2012 financial year is US$ 6.7 billion.

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