K V Kamath appointed as the head of New Development Bank of BRICS nations

Eminent banker K V Kamath was today appointed as head of the $50-billion New Development Bank being set up by the five emerging economies of the BRICS grouping.

• Kamath will have a five-year term of the bank.
• Kamath has been named the first president of the NDB.
• NDB is likely to be operationalised within one year.

About Kamath :

• Kamath is the Chairman of the India’s largest private sector bank ICICI.
• After serving at ICICI for more than a decade, Kamath had moved to Asian Development Bank, Manila, in the private sector department in 1988.
• His principal work experience at ADB was in various projects in China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and other emerging nations.
• He has served as the chairman of Infosys Limited, the second-largest Indian IT services company.
• He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University.
• He was awarded Padma Bhushan Award from the Indian government – 2008

Other Awards :

Businessman of the Year – Business India, 2005.

Business Leader Award of the Year – The Economic Times, 2007.

Businessman of the Year – Forbes Asia,2008.

Information about New Development Bank :

• Multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
• Leaders of the emerging economies of BRICS had last year reached an agreement to establish the New Development Bank.
• Headquarters – Shanghai.
• The bank will start with an initial paid-in-capital of $50 billion with each BRICS country contributing $10 billion.
• India’s presidency will be followed by Brazil and Russia, who will have a five-year term each under an agreement reached after intense negotiations among the five-country grouping.
• Each participant country will be assigned one vote, and none of the countries will have veto power.

Information about BRICS :

• An association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• The grouping was originally known as “BRIC” before the inclusion of South Africa in 2010.
• The BRICS nations account for nearly $16 trillion in GDP,equivalent to approximately 20% of the gross world product.
• It has estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.
• Accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s population.
• The term “BRIC” was coined in 2001 by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O’Neill.
• The BRIC grouping’s first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg,Russia commenced on 16 June 2009.
• Russia currently holds the chair of the BRICS group, and will host the group’s seventh summit in July 2015.
• Last Summit was held in Fortaleza, Brasília.