Manuela Veiga Ferro has been leading World Bank Operations in the Asia and Pacific region since September 2021.
In her current role, Manuela Ferro is responsible for World Bank operations in 38 countries, including China, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, East Timor, Thailand, and Malaysia. The World Bank’s portfolio in this region includes operations of US$150 billion in the areas of economic development, fiscal and financial policies, transport, energy, education and health. In the last fiscal year it funded projects in 28 countries worth more than $7 billion.
She leads a team of 1100 people, of which 850 live in Asia and Oceania. For the previous 4 years she was the Vice President responsible for the operational policy of the World Bank, including the pandemic response program. She was also part of the team that negotiated the two capital increases for the World Bank.
Manuela Veiga Ferro is Portuguese and holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford University, California. She was a Fulbright and Luso-American Foundation for Development scholarship holder.
She is a native of Lisbon and married to Professor Denis Wirtz, Belgian and American citizen, Vice Provost of Research at Johns Hopkins University.
Manuela Ferro has been a member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council since 2017.