Mr. Motoo Konishi, former World Bank Country Director for East Asia and the Pacific, has been appointed a Distinguished Fellow in Development Management.
Mr. Konishi retired from the World Bank in March 2016, after 35 years of service. He served as the World Bank’s Country Director for the Philippines from 2012-2016. Prior to his assignment in the Philippines, he was the World Bank’s Country Director for Central Asia covering five Central Asia countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, a post he held from 2009-2011.
Mr. Konishi joined the World Bank in 1981 through the Young Professionals Program. After graduating the Program in 1983, he worked on the transport sector in Eastern and Southern African countries. As a transport economist, he led teams of multi-sector specialists and carried out in-depth sector analysis that diagnosed the existing situation and formulated multi-year programs of institutional, policy reforms, and investments to improve regional infrastructure and transport services. During that period, he led the formulation of 14 projects in six different countries, including the Tanzania Integrated Road Project which covered the entire five-year road sector investment program of the country funded by 12 donor countries. Subsequently in 1992, he was appointed the Bank’s Resident Representative for Tanzania where he served until 1995. A notable contribution was to put corruption and transparent governance as the key agenda for the 1996 Presidential Election. As Principal Country Officer for Kazakhstan from 1995–1997, he led the formulation of the Bank’s country assistance strategy for Kazakhstan and was the team leader for the preparation and implementation of the Treasury Modernization and the Legal Reform Projects in Kazakhstan.
Between 1997 and 2009, Mr. Konishi worked in the Infrastructure and Energy Services Department of Europe and Central Asia Region as the Sector Manager for Water Supply and Sanitation, and Sector Manager for Transport. During his tenure, he raised the transport sector lending from zero to over $2.5 billion per annum, trained and mentored staff, three of whom have subsequently become sector managers, and delivered the largest single investment program in the history of the World Bank.
Mr. Konishi received his B.S. in International Economics from Claremont McKenna College (USA) and his M.A.L.D. in development economics, international law, and international business from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA).
Apart from being a Distinguished Fellow, Mr. Konishi also serves on the Board of Advisors of AIM’s Team Energy Center for Bridging Leadership.