On Thursday, November 2, Keio University and the World Bank jointly organized a lecture by the CEO of the World Bank, Dr. Kristalina Georgieva, at G-Lab (6F East Research Building) on Mita Campus. After the opening address by President Akira Haseyama, Dr. Georgieva spoke about the initiatives of the World Bank Group (WBG) to promote gender equality, the eradication of poverty, and the sharing of prosperity.
She described the current situation in developing countries and how the WBG is providing funding and human resources to developing countries, implementing gender equality strategies to provide high-quality basic education to girls, and investing in quality infrastructure.
After the lecture, there was a talk between Dr. Georgieva and the Director for Audience Engagement and Content Strategy of Asahi Shimbun, Mr. Takeshi Fujitani, as well as a Q&A session with Keio students. One of the questions was regarding how Japan can contribute to world peace to which Dr. Georgieva pointed out the importance of taking an interest in people in developing countries and what they have to say.
With the financial support of the World Bank, the Keio University Graduate School of Business and Commerce has been offering the Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program. The objective of this master’s degree program is to produce qualified specialists in the area of tax policy and administration in developing countries. World Bank scholarship students affiliated to the graduate school were among the many Keio students attending the lecture, and they all listened eagerly to Dr. Georieva’s words.