As the biggest stockholder of the 152-nation, Washington-based institution, the United States has named the chief executive since the World Bank was founded in 1945.

Washington-based cultural institutions showcased the country's heritage through a three-day program November 28-30 known as "Turkmenistan Culture Days."

"It could be they decided to do this on their own before the World Bank told them to," said one diplomat here who specializes in economic affairs, referring to proposals already under discussion with the Washington-based institution.

A prominent black consciousness advocate, anthropologist and physician, Dr. Ramphele, 51, will direct the bank's efforts in health, education and social protection when she joins the Washington-based institution next year.

The International Finance Corporation is the for-profit investment banking arm of the World Bank, the Washington-based institution that aims to promote economic development in poor countries.

Responding to speculation surrounding its funding requirements, the Washington-based institution said its staff estimates that countries around the world will need about $1 trillion in loans in the coming years.

The Washington-based institution said the world had "entered a very difficult phase characterised by significant downside risks and fragility".

Recruited nationally, selected students (known colloquially as I4RC Scholars) spend summers interning at Washington-based private institutions, think tanks, government agencies, and companies.

In its half-yearly health check on the global economy the Washington-based institution said the world had "entered a very difficult phase characterised by significant downside risks and fragility".

After the United States, Japan is now the second-largest stockholder in the World Bank, a Washington-based institution that provides more than $20 billion a year, mostly in long-term loans, to help third-world countries strengthen their economies.