Kuwait fund chief underlines WBG, IMF meetings

By Ahmad Al- Al-Mazyad WASHINGTON, April 19 (KUNA) -- Acting Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Waleed Al-Bahar said Friday Kuwait, represented by the fund, is eager to attend annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) to promote economic and social development cooperation.
Speaking to KUNA, he said Kuwait, which has been bound with close relations with the WBG since 1960, supports the goals and operations of the WBG and IMF by regularly contributing to their development resources.
He added that he had already held meetings with government representatives, ministers of finance, planning and international cooperation, and chiefs of development institutions on the sidelines of the two UN bodies' spring meetings that last until April 20.
The meetings, he elaborated, focused on aspects of cooperation in the areas of promoting economic and social development worldwide amid mounting challenges developing countries are facing.
He noted that he had also participated in the meeting of joint development meeting of the WBG and IMF, which defines their general trends and strategic trends.
The meeting looked into the WBG's development roadmap and regulations in the context of the fresh vision that was adopted by the two bodies' board of governors during their annual meetings in 2023, he said.
Earlier in the day, the KFAED inked a memorandum of understanding for development cooperation with the International Labor Organization.
The MoU was co-signed by KFAED's Acting Director General Waleed Al-Bahar and ILO's Assistant Director-General for External and Corporate Relations, Laura Thompson, on sidelines of the 2024 spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
KFAED said in a statement that the MoU aims at establishing a framework of technical cooperation and coordinating joint action in the realms of economic and social funding in developing countries, in addition to mutual coordination for the sharing of expertise.
The MoU, of a five-year renewable mandate, focuses on cooperation in activities that meet the two sides' objectives in the developing countries. (pickup previous) amm.mt