Caio Koch-Weser was World Bank Managing Director, Operations (MDOMD), from January 1996 to April 1999, having previously served as regional vice president (RVP) for the Middle East and North Africa from 1991 to 1995 and in various other positions at the Bank since 1973, including:

• Personal Assistant to President Robert S. McNamara, 1977-1980

• Division Chief, Division F: China, 1980-1986

• Director, Western Africa Country Programs Department, 1986-1987

• Director, Africa Country Department IV, 1987-1990

• Director, Treasury Operations, 1990-1991

World Bank Group President James D. Wolfensohn assigned Koch-Weser and Managing Director Gautam S. Kaji to share responsibility for the Bank Group's operations, policies, and programs as of January 1996. Initially Koch-Weser chaired the Operational Policy Committee, vice-chaired the Operations Committee, and supervised the RVPs for Europe and Central Asia (ECA), Middle East and North Africa (MNA), and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), as well as the central vice presidencies for Human Capital Development and Operations Policy (HCO) and Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD). (Kaji supervised the other three RVPs: Africa, South Asia, and East Asia and Pacific.) In 1997, as part of a Bank-wide reorganization, the two central vice presidencies Koch-Weser supervised were replaced by the Human Development Network (HDN) and the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network (ESSD), respectively. Koch-Weser later assumed responsibility for the regional vice presidency for South Asia (previously supervised by Kaji, who left the Bank in November 1997) and the Operational Core Services Network (OCS).

Koch-Weser was involved in implementing the "Strategic Compact," a set of initiatives launched in 1997 to clarify the objectives of the World Bank Group, provide better services to its clients, and address issues of accountability. Documents known as Country Assistance Strategies (CASs) became the main vehicle for focusing on clients. The Bank Group decentralized some activities and streamlined operational processes so that it could respond more quickly to client needs.

Koch-Weser also worked on the early implementation of the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), launched in 1999 and piloted by Bolivia. One of Wolfensohn's signature initiatives, the CDF centered on a holistic vision of development and country ownership of the development strategy.

After leaving the Bank in April 1999, Koch-Weser became Secretary of State in the Federal Ministry of Finance for Germany.