Cholpon Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, 4 August 2022 – The IsDB, Regional Hub Almaty attended the 4th Round Table Meeting of the Arab Coordination Group jointly with the representatives of the Arab Coordination Group, comprising Saudi Fund for Development, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, OPEC Fund for International Development and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. This year, the Round Table Meeting kicked off in Cholpon Ata on 3 August 2022.   

The Round Table meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr. Adylbek Kasymaliev, First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic and attended by the country’s senior officials.

In his opening remarks, H.E. Mr. Kasymaliev appreciated the willingness of the members of the Arab Coordination Group to consider participating in the implementation of the National Development Program of the Kyrgyz Republic 2022-2026 and to contribute to the development of the priority economic sectors of the country, including the institutional capacity building of the state-owned institutions.

In his opening statement, Mr. Ibrahim Shoukry, the Head of the IsDB mission commended the on-going socio-economic development plans in Kyrgyz Republic and applauded the laudable results and macroeconomic performance of the country. He further appreciated the warm hospitality and excellent organization of the roundtable meeting. The IsDB and ACG reiterated their full support and cooperation for the implementation of the country’s priority projects under its national development program, which will facilitate the expeditious economic recovery of the country in the post-COVID pandemic period. 

The members of the Arab Coordination Group reviewed and discussed the pipeline of top priority projects presented by the Government during the Round Table Meeting, which included social housing program “My Home”, transport infrastructure, water supply and sanitation, health and education and post communications.

During the meeting, the IsDB made a presentation on the Smart ED initiative, which was approved on 14 December 2021 with objective to mobilize partnership between the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the members of the Arab Coordination Group for investments that transform education systems in lower-income countries by targeting key bottlenecks in access to education and quality learning. Under the above arrangements, Kyrgyz Republic is eligible to receive US$ 60 million concessional financing from the Coordination Group blended with US$ 15 million of the GPE grant resources to develop its education sector.  

As per outcome of the meeting, the members of the Coordination Group and the Government of Kyrgyz Republic have signed the Minutes of Meeting of the Round Table Meeting of the Coordination Group on 3 August 2022.