Maria Kim is a Senior Private Sector Specialist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice at the World Bank. A Canadian national, she joined the Bank in 2010 and has worked in the Latin America and Caribbean and West Africa regions. She has worked extensively on value chain competitiveness, SME development and finance, business environment reform, competitive cities, women’s economic empowerment, and most recently on the development of blockchain technology applications for value chain financing and competitiveness. She is currently the team lead of the Côte d’Ivoire Competitive Value Chains for Jobs and Economic Transformation Project. Prior to joining the Bank Group, she worked for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the United Nations University-Institute of Advanced Studies and Environment Canada.
She holds a Master of Public Policy and Administration from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada and a BA in Political Science (Major) and International Relations (Minor) from the University of British Columbia. Maria speaks English, French, Spanish and Haitian Créole.