16.09.2013-London, UK- The British Foreign Secretary William Hague and the President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali called for investors and development partners to support the Arab Countries in transition through the economic and political challenges they are facing.
They made the call at the G8 Deauville Partnership Investment Conference organized in London by UK’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office in partnership with the IDB and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
In his speech read by Mr Alistair Burt, Under Secretary in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, the British Foreign Secretary told the participants that some countries in the Middle East and North Africa are going through difficult times, and the people are looking forward to better living conditions.
“Our role is to support governments in transition, at least 40 million jobs need to be created in the region”, he stated and went on to call on investors to “look beyond headlines” and utilize the conference as an opportunity to exchange ideas.
In his keynote speech, the IDB President, Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali stated that “Since 2011, international financing institutions (IFIs) have collectively committed in excess of $23 billion of assistance to the Arab countries in transition, including $5.8 billion from the IDB Group, in addition to billions of dollars of bilateral assistance from Gulf countries, Turkey and the G8. However, “we need more than official aid to transform the economies of these countries in transition, particularly the
involvement of the private sector which is the real engine of growth”.
He assured the Arab Countries in Transition that “the IDB Group, along with other IFIs, will be firmly by your side along this challenging journey of socioeconomic transformation”. The President described the conference as an opportunity for constructive dialogue among participants.
Other speakers at the conference included the President of EBRD, and ministers from the Arab countries in transition who told the audience about the business and investment climate in the region despite the political and economic challenges they are facing. The conference brought together senior government ministers and high-level business representatives from across the G8, the Arab Countries in transition (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Yemen and Jordan), Deauville regional partners (Saudi
Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Turkey), leaders of the IFIs as well as CEOs of the IDB affiliates such as the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), and Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC).