New deputy chairman for World Bank for Middle East affairs

James Wolfensohn, head of the World Bank, decided to appoint Jean-Louis Sarbib as vice president of the Middle East and North Africa Region to succeed Kemal Dervis, who was appointed as a top economist in the bank, responsible for the department for decreasing poverty.

A statement by the Bank's regional bank in Cairo said that Sarbib will assume his new post by June and that he was previously co-vice president of the Africa Region in the bank.

The new deputy chairman of the World Bank is a French citizen, and he used to work in the French Ministry of Industry before being appointed in the World Bank.