Above: Dr Jim Yong Kim (Photo: Dartmouth)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s President, Michel Martelly, supports Dr Jim Yong Kim as the next president of the World Bank, the National Palace announced.

Kim, a Korean-American doctor, was formerly the president of Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Kim is the co-founder, with Dr Paul Farmer, of Partners in Health, which has long held a significant presence in Haiti.

The National Palace said more Haitians are able to live productive lives and contribute to more vibrant and inclusive growth in the country thanks to his leadership.

“Haiti needs the help of all our multilateral partners, and we wish Dr Kim a successful nomination and are ready to welcome him in Haiti as his first foreign visit as soon as he elected President of the World Bank,” Martelly said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama announced March 23 that the US would nominate Kim as the bank’s next president, succeeding Robert Zoellick.

For more about Partners in Health in Haiti, see Caribbean Journal’s interview with Partners in Health’s medical director, Dr Joia Mukherjee.