Washington, USA, 22 October 2024 - Heads of the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) Institutions have met and conferred with the President of the World Bank Group, H.E. Ajay Banga in Washington, USA.

Islamic Development Bank President, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, represented the Bank at the meeting which was held on the sidelines of the ongoing 2024 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.

In his remarks, H.E. Dr. Al Jasser highly commended the continuous dialogue between the ACG and the World Bank Group as well as H.E. Ajay Banga’s commitment to the partnership.

The IsDB President highlighted that the ACG and World Bank Group share the same objectives of eradicating extreme poverty and fostering shared prosperity

The Islamic Development Bank is one of the 10 member institutions comprising the Arab Coordination Group.

He then underlined that ACG could be considered as a co-financing model for coordinating important development project addressing a broad spectrum of societal needs, including infrastructure, healthcare, education, and agriculture.

According to Dr. Al Jasser, the IsDB Group and other MDBs are working collectively to scale up co-financing, particularly by developing the MDBs co-financing platform and Co-financing forum which necessitates collaborating with other development financing institutions like the Arab Coordination Group.

He stressed that five decades of partnership among ACG Institutions have led to faster project implementation, better alignment with national development goals of the recipient countries, as well as impact and effectiveness maximization.

The Islamic Development Bank President then referred to the Riyadh Declaration issued at the end of the 50^th anniversary celebrations of the Bank in April 2024 saying that this significant outcome of the event reaffirms IsDB’s commitment to addressing emerging global challenges. 

The Declaration focuses on strengthening IsDB’s governance framework for enhanced performance and financial sustainability, increasing concessional financing to better meet the needs of member countries, and reinforcing IsDB’s leadership in South-South cooperation to drive regional and global development initiatives effectively. 

Earlier in the day, the ACG Heads of Institutions met and conferred with World Bank Vice President, MENA Region, Mr. Ousmane Dione where significant challenges facing the Middle East and North Africa region were reviewed.

The participants at the meeting then called for more concerted collaboration to overcome these challenges.

IsDB President, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, said that the ACG and World Bank MENA are well positioned to enhance their collaboration in pursuit of shared development goals.

He expressed confidence that by leveraging their complementary strengths, ACG and World Bank MENA can address the challenges of the region more effectively, ensuring that development efforts lead to sustainable, inclusive growth.

In his remarks, the IsDB Group Chairman, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser encouraged more collaboration between ACG and World Bank MENA on co-financing mechanisms to enhance scaling up financial resources for major projects, mainly in infrastructure, renewable energy, women and youth, scholarship opportunities, climate action, and social programs.

For inquiries please contact:

Ahmad Abu Ghazaleh, Senior PR & External Communication Specialist

IsDB Communications and Outreach Department.

Email: aghazaleh@isdb.org

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