ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 16,
2025 /CNW/ -- On the sidelines of the inaugural
annual global AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies in
Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (February
16-17), Saudi Arabia's
Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
co-hosted a high-level roundtable on "Working Together to Support
Recovery in the Middle East's
Conflict-Affected Economies", with a focus on Syria, bringing
together finance ministers of countries in the region, the Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Syria, the
Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank Group and heads
of other International Financial Institutions and the Arab
Coordination Group.
Following the meeting, Kristalina
Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, and Mohammed
Aljadaan, Finance Minister of Saudi
Arabia, made the following statement:
"This important meeting brought together representatives from
the Middle East and key economic
and development partners to discuss how we can work together to
support recovery in the Middle
East's conflict-affected economies, with a focus on
Syria.
"We thank all participants for realizing the urgency and
importance of this task, as well as for their commitment to pool
knowledge and work together to ensure that the conflict-affected
countries can start addressing their humanitarian needs and begin a
rebuilding era for their economies in an efficient, swift, and
durable way for the benefit of their people.
"Participants welcomed the meeting as an opportunity to discuss
recent developments and build a common understanding of the
challenges facing conflict-affected countries. They emphasized the
importance of strengthening coordination to support the recovery of
these countries as the negative spillovers would impact all.
Particular attention was paid to the situation in Syria.
Participants agreed on the following priorities to support
conflict-affected countries:
- A Continuous Diagnostic of the challenges and [economic
and social] context facing each conflict-affected country,
including an assessment of humanitarian and reconstruction needs.
Such a diagnostic should identify institution-building priorities,
gaps in policies, and financing needs.
- Enhanced Capacity Development (CD) aimed at rapidly
scaling up IMF and World Bank CD initiatives to help strengthen
and, as needed, build new institutions. Support would need to be
tailored to strengthen essential functions of fiscal, monetary and
banking institutions.
- Mobilization of financial assistance from the international
community. Financial support—coordinated with international and
regional development partners—will be needed to fund comprehensive
reform programs, including reconstruction and humanitarian
aid.
"The IMF, World Bank, the Arab Coordination Group, and countries
of the region underscored their readiness to work together and
complement each other's efforts while focusing on their
institutional mandates. They will continue to work closely and with
other partners to further support the international response to the
recovery of conflict-affected economies in the Middle East region.
They agreed to establish an informal coordination group to
support those efforts, they agreed that discussions on those
efforts will be continued at the upcoming IMF/World Bank
Spring Meetings on April 25-27 in
Washington, D.C."
[Participants at the meeting included the IMF, World Bank,
countries in the region members of the Arab
Coordination Group, and high-level representatives of Syria.
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content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/joint-statement-by-saudi-finance-minister-and-imf-managing-director-on-supporting-recovery-in-the-middle-easts-conflict-affected-economies-302377656.html
SOURCE Ministry Of Finance
