Global wealth shifting to Asia, says former World Bank chief

Last Updated: Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:18:00 +1100

The former president of the World Bank says global power - and wealth - is shifting from West to East.

James Wolfensohn says the world is looking at a change in resource ownership not seen in 200 years.

He told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific program the world is ill-prepared for the huge move.

Mr Wolfensohn, World Bank head for 10 years, says Australia has a unique opportunity to be the "natural link" between the West and Asia.

This is not just through proximity to Asia, but also Australian knowledge of the region and its welcome to Asians to participate in its life.

Significant

Mr Wolfensohn said "between now and 2050...the weight of global of power, in terms of economic power, will shift significantly to Asia.

"By 2050, we can expect that China and India together will have between 45 and 50 per cent of global economic power and that Asia will have somewhere between 55 and 60 per cent of global economic power.

"And that is something that my generation was not trained for."

An Australian, Mr Wolfensohn was president of the World Bank from 1995 to 2005. He was in Sydney to speak at the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre annual dinner.

He says it is crucial that the West to learn about Asian culture and language.

"I think it's not just an Australian issue, I think it is an issue for the West, that we should learn more about the cultures of Asia, and in the case of China, we should have Mandarin as one of the major languages, along with French and German and Latin."

Australia's multiculturalism - the modern mix of peoples in cities, in particular - was "a huge plus".

"When I was at university 50 years ago, we unfortunately had a White Australia policy. And thank god it's changed and we can have people from Asia that are here, participating in the way that you are, even, that can in a natural way have Australia participate in the developments in Asia.

"I think that is perhaps the best thing that I've seen that is obvious, in terms of Australian developments since I left here."

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