Tokyo - Japan's government on Sunday threw its backing behind
Jim Yong Kim, the US nominee to be the next World Bank chief, as the
Korean-American physician visited Tokyo.
"He substantially understands the positions of
developing countries," Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi told
reporters after meeting Kim, who was in Tokyo as part of a global
"listening tour".
"He would be a suitable person to take the leadership of the World Bank," Azumi said.
US President Barack Obama last month tapped Dartmouth
College president Kim, known for his work in global health campaigns
against AIDS in Africa, to lead the World Bank.
Since the World Bank's founding in 1944, Washington has
always chosen its president. But this year, it faces two challengers in
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria and Jose Antonio Ocampo of Colombia.
Kim is therefore seeking to drum up support from major
emerging economies on his tour, which is also taking in Brazil, China,
India and Mexico among other stops. He visited China on Saturday.