Pararaja Naresha Duraiswamy or Naresh in short has been Country Manager for Solomon Islands since December 1st 2011. He holds a PhD in International Relations from Columbia University in New York. He had earlier lived and studied in several countries that included Iraq, Italy, China, the Philippines and the United States. His family antecedents lie in northern Sri Lanka that had witnessed a 25 year civil conflict which ended only in 2009. Naresh has an academic interest in foreign affairs, history, philosophy and Hindu law.
A Sri Lankan national, Naresh joined the World Bank in 1996 as an Institutional Development Specialist in the South Asia Region. He has since held various positions in the South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Europe/Central Asia Regions of the Bank. He has worked on Bangladesh, the Kyrgyz Republic, Nepal, South Africa and Sri Lanka with a focus on post-conflict and post-disaster reconstruction.
Naresh’s priorities in Solomon Islands will be to deepen collaboration with the Government of the Solomon Islands. The emphasis would be on a policy dialogue as reform efforts enter a new phase. He would oversee the World Bank’s growing project portfolio in energy, infrastructure, mining, telecommunications, and rural development. An early priority will be launching discussions with Government, development partners, private sector, and civil society on a new Country Partnership Strategy.