Dubai 2003 delegation to attend Meetings of World Bank Group and IMF

Dubai, UAE
The annual two-day event is the biggest gathering of the two organisations outside of the Annual Meetings held every September and this year will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai.

This visit will give the Dubai 2003 delegation a valuable opportunity to meet with counterparts from the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund and update them on the status of preparations to host the meetings in September.

During the meetings in Washington, Mr. Belselah will meet with World Bank Group President, Mr. James D. Wolfensohn and the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Mr. Horst Köhler.

He will also hold discussions with Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, Vice-President and Corporate Secretary of the World Bank Group and Mr. Shailendra J. Anjaria, Secretary of the International Monetary Fund who participated in a fact finding visit to Dubai in January. Other meetings will involve the Director of the International Monetary Fund's Middle Eastern Department, Mr. George Abed, the Vice President of the World Bank Group's Middle East and North Africa Department, Mr. Jean-Louis Sarhib and other senior representatives of both financial organisations.

Before his departure to Washington, Mr. Belselah, said: "The meetings will give us an opportunity to provide the World Bank Group and IMF officials an update on the status of the preparations being made to host the Annual Meetings in Dubai as the countdown to the event continues. The visit will also help us further develop our strong relationship with the Joint Secretariat of these two organisations to enhance the coordination between the Joint Secretariat and Dubai 2003."

The Dubai 2003 delegation includes Mr. Mubarak bin Fahad, Director-General of Dubai World Trade Centre that includes the world-class Dubai International Convention Centre, the venue for the Annual Meetings in September. The Convention Centre has been built as part of a longer-term vision for Dubai to become a major centre for international conventions in the future.

The Dubai 2003 team also includes representatives of specialist committees established to handle specific tasks relating to the arrangements and logistical requirements of organising this event, which is the biggest of its kind in the Middle East.

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 was 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.