The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has appointed Ary Na”im since it's Regional Manager for Central and Southeast Europe, based in Belgrade, and overseeing operations in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania and Serbia.
Na”im takes within the position from Thomas Lubeck, who had been recently appointed as Manager for Transaction Advisory Services Public-Private Partnerships in Asia and Pacific, based in Singapore.
A French national and a former banker, Ary Na”im has been with IFC for 17 years. He joined IFC in 2003 in Morocco as Use of Finance Specialist, then moved in 2005 to Washington as part of IFC's Financial Institutions Group, where he actively led to IFC's global thought leadership in SME Banking and Leasing. This year he took the function of Country Go to tobago and Haiti, leading IFC’s reconstruction efforts after the 2010 earthquake and rolling out innovative investment, advisory, and treasury initiatives both in countries. For the past six years, Ary Na”im has been the Country Manager for IFC in Mexico, overseeing a substantial ramp-up of IFC annual commitments across sectors and creating a strong franchise in the united states. Ary Naim is definitely an engineer in Computer Sciences, with a master’s degree in Artificial Intelligence.
Announcing his appointment, Wiebke Schloemer, IFC Director for Europe and Central Asia, said: “Ary brings global experience to Central and Southeast Europe. Through his leadership, good quality to building on our successes in the region, serving our clients, and creating new markets and opportunities where they're needed most.”
“As they slowly start exiting the current COVID-19 crisis with severely constrained public finances, countries need to restart their economies and recreate unemployment. Never has it been essential and urgent to draw in fresh private investment,” said Ary Na”im. “The good news is that Central and Southeast Europe countries are very well placed to leverage the digital economy, the upcoming regionalization of key global value chains, and also the requirement for a more sustainable and inclusive growth going forward. To achieve this, the region must improve its business environment, establish new public private partnerships, embrace technological disruption, and create new markets. IFC is committed and uniquely positioned to assist governments and businesses along this path.”
As of January 2023, IFC’s committed investment portfolio in Central and Southeast Europe stood at $2.6 billion across an extensive range of sectors, including markets, infrastructure, information and communication technology, manufacturing, services, and education. This figure includes $575 million mobilized from partner institutions.
