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US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka seen in a 2018 file photo. Photo: Reuters

Ivanka Trump is reportedly being considered to head the World Bank, whose leader is traditionally picked by US

  • Donald Trump’s daughter was the driving force behind a US$1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women
  • Other candidates reportedly include the former US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley

US President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and are among possible US candidates to replace outgoing World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, according to a report on Friday.

Kim abruptly announced Monday he was cutting short his tenure as the bank’s president more than three years before his second term was due to end.

Senior adviser to the US President Ivanka Trump attends a meeting with Republican members of Congress and Cabinet members in the White House in this 2018 file photo. Photo: Agence France-Presse

On Friday, The Financial Times reported that in addition to Trump and Haley, who stepped down as US Ambassador to the United Nations last month, other names being floated include Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David Malpass and Mark Green, head of the US Agency for International Development.

Ivanka Trump in 2017 was the driving force behind a US$1 billion, Saudi-supported World Bank fund to promote entrepreneurship by women.

Will World Bank chief's exit spark a succession battle with Trump?

The Treasury Department said on Friday that it had no comment in potential candidates.

The department has received a “significant number of recommendations,” a spokesperson said.

“We are beginning the internal review process for a US nominee. We look forward to working with the governors to select a new leader.”

US President Donald Trump and then US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley shake hands in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on October 9, 2018. TPhoto: EPA

Under an unwritten agreement, the United States, which is the bank’s largest shareholder, has always chosen its leader since the institution was founded following World War II.

But the success of a US candidate no longer appears completely assured.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim abruptly resigns

Kim was the first American nominee to face a contested election for the World Bank presidency in 2012 and the bank’s board has said its selection process will be “open, merit-based and transparent,” implying non-US candidates would not be ruled out.

The World Bank Board said Thursday it would start accepting nominations for a new leader early next month and name a replacement for Kim by mid-April.

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