Finance Ministry Official Named World Bank Director

Jakarta Globe, Dion Bisara | October 11, 2010

Finance Ministry Inspector General Hekinus Manao has been elected as the World Bank’s executive director for the East Asia-Pacific region.

He is scheduled to take over the position at the bank’s headquarters in Washington on Nov. 1, and will oversee 11 countries: Indonesia, Brunei, Fiji, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga and Vietnam.

“A star performer of high integrity within Indonesia’s bureaucracy, Dr. Manao was nominated for the directorship by Indonesian Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo,” the World Bank said in a statement.

“Executive directors are responsible for making decisions on all proposed investments to be made by three of the main organizations under the World Bank group, namely the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association and the International Finance Corporation,” it explained.

Finance Ministry spokesman Harry Z Soeratin welcomed the announcement.

“It was an achievement,” he said, adding that Agus had endorsed Hekinus with the aim of strengthening the Indonesian government’s ties to the World Bank.

Hekinus was officially elected to the position at the bank’s annual meeting, which wrapped up in Washington on Sunday.

The World Bank’s board of executive directors has 24 members, of which five are appointed and 19 are elected. Regular elections for executive directors are held every two years, and are normally concluded at the bank’s annual meeting.

Each elected executive director represents a group of countries in a specific region. The directorship is rotated among nations within that group.

Hekinus enters the new position with a long history of experience in both Indonesian and international financial affairs.

He was promoted to inspector general of the Finance Ministry in 2008, after having been the director of the ministry’s accountancy and financial report for four years.

On the international front, he has served as a member of the G20 Working Group on Enhancing Sound Regulation and Strengthening Transparency.

Hekinus was first trained as an accountant at the State Accountant School (STAN), graduating in 1984.

He went on to earn a master’s degree in accounting from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1990.

He then earned a doctorate in business administration at Cleveland State University.