World Bank Group and IMF secretaries visit Dubai as countdown to meetings continues

This is the first joint visit to Dubai by two senior officials of the Bank and the Fund.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group and Mr. Shailendra J. Anjaria, Secretary of the International Monetary Fund, are spending two days in Dubai meeting senior Government officials and representatives from Dubai 2003, and discussing the arrangements for the Annual Meetings.

During their visit the Secretaries, who have over 50 years combined experience with the Bank and Fund, have met with UAE Minister of State for Finance and Industry Dr. Mohammed Khalfan bin Khirbash and will also meet with the Governor of the UAE Central Bank His Excellency Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi. The Secretaries have visited the Dubai International Convention Centre, hotels that are hosting delegates and seminars and functions during the Annual Meetings, and received updates and status reports on the arrangements to host the prestigious event.

Commenting on the visit, Dubai 2003 General Coordinator Mr. Ibrahim Belselah said: "We are very happy to host this visit by two such experienced and senior representatives of the Bank and Fund. Their advice and input has been greatly appreciated to help us ensure that all the preparations we are making to host the 58th Annual Meetings fully meet the requirements of the Bank and Fund.

"Here in Dubai we are very proud of the facilities that we already have in place for the event with the Dubai International Convention Centre construction now complete and our world-class hotels ready to supply all the needs of our distinguished guests in September 2003.

"Our guests tell me they have been very impressed by what they have seen already on this trip and the fact that all our preparations are on or ahead of schedule. We look forward to continuing to cooperate closely with the Bank and the Fund as we enter the final stages of the preparations for the Meetings."

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Group Vice-President and Corporate Secretary, said: "All of the facilities and arrangements we have seen during our visit have been truly world-class. The commitment, enthusiasm and professionalism of the Dubai 2003 team has been evident throughout and the World Bank Group is looking forward to holding the Annual Meetings here in such a supportive environment."

Mr. Shailendra J. Anjaria, Secretary of the International Monetary Fund, added: "I am very pleased that this year's meetings are shaping up very well. It is clear that the Government of the UAE and the organisers here in Dubai are working with the Bank/Fund Joint Secretariat as one unified team to ensure the success of this prestigious event that we are delighted will be hosted by an Arab city for the very first time."

The high-level inspection visit is one of many that representatives of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund are making to work with their counterparts in Dubai.

About the Secretaries
Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, a Nigerian national, joined the World Bank in February 1982 and has worked on various operational regions from the Middle East and North Africa to East Asia and Africa. Having joined as an Economist she rose through the ranks to her current post of Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group. In 2000 she served as an Economic Adviser to President Obasanjo of Nigeria.

Mr. Shailendra J. Anjaria, an Indian national, is a graduate of both Yale University and the London School of Economics and joined the International Monetary Fund in 1968. He spent 20 years in different positions with the Exchange and Trade Relations Department and has also worked in the African Department. He assumed his current position of Secretary of the International Monetary Fund in 1999.

The Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund were first held in Washington DC in 1946. They are hosted by an international city one year in three. Dubai and the UAE were selected because of its highly developed transportation and logistics infrastructure, growing importance as a financial hub and its established position as an oasis of opportunity.

About the Annual Meetings
The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (Fund) and the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group (Bank) normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September-October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.

In recent years, the Annual Meetings have been preceded by meetings of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the Development Committee, the Group of Ten, the Group of Twenty-Four, and various other groups of members. At the conclusion of their meetings, the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee, as well as several other groups, issue communiqués. The Annual Meetings include 2 days of plenary sessions, during which Governors take up matters of business, consult with one another, and address the assembled delegates to present their countries' views on current issues in international economics and finance.

At the Annual Meetings, the Boards of Governors make decisions on how current international monetary issues should be addressed and approve corresponding resolutions. The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the Bank and the Fund, with the chairmanship rotating among the membership with the meetings, including seminars conducted by staff members for members of the press. The Annual Meetings Program of Seminars is designed to foster creative dialogue among the private sector, government delegates and senior Bank and Fund officials each year.


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