"India is rapidly emerging as a country of global importance and we are seeing its footprints across the world now in new and exciting ways. I am here to learn from your model of development and reform in a democratic environment," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said on his arrival in Hyderabad on Wednesday night.
"For all its increasing excellence in information technology, industry and commence, India remains home to more than a quarter of the world's poor people," he noted.
He said he would have discussions with the government about ways in which the World Bank could support India's efforts to attain its development goals.
"A majority of Indians still live in rural areas and I know that this government has, quite rightly, made rural infrastructure a priority," he observed.
"The World Bank is determined to be of help as you scale up this effort to reach the millions of people needing better access to services in rural areas," he added.
Wolfowitz said he was looking forward to meeting the real practitioners of development among the women of Andhra Pradesh, who had taken small opportunities and turned them into dramatic improvements for themselves and their families.
"I have heard about improvement in girls' educational and rural livelihoods and I cannot wait to meet some of these people doing the real business of development and making a real difference in the quality of their daily lives," he said.
Wolfowitz, who is making his first to India as the president of the global development institution, will spend one day meeting women and community groups in rural areas outside Hyderabad before reaching New Delhi for discussions with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and other officials.
He will also make a courtesy call on President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
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