Planning minister attends annual joint meetings of Arab financial institutions

AMMAN —  Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh attended the annual joint meetings of the Arab financial institutions.

Held in Jeddah, under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the meetings witnessed the participation of the Arab Ministers of Finance and Economy, governors of Arab Central Banks, heads of Arab Funding Institutions, heads of the boards of directors of the Arab Financial Institutions, as well as representatives from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, and the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), among other financial and economic experts.

Shraideh, who is also Jordan’s governor of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, chaired the Kingdom’s delegation participating in the 51st meeting of the fund’s board of governors, according to a ministry statement on Saturday.

On the sidelines of the meetings, Shraideh met Chairman and Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Bader Mohammad Al Saad, Head of IsDB Mohammed Sulaiman Al Jasser, CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Sultan Murshid, Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development  Marwan Abdullah Al Ghanim, Director General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, and Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Abdulhamid Al Khalifa.

Talks covered issues of common interest, notably enhancing bilateral relations with these funds. The heads of the funds and Islamic banks were acquainted with the economic and financial developments in the Kingdoms, highlighting reforms put in place to overcome the financial and economic challenges.

Shraideh, during the meetings, urged the funds to further support the Kingdom’s development projects, notably in the energy, health, industry, and investment sectors, in addition to the State Budget, highlighting the challenges that emerged during the pandemic and pressures due to hosting the Syrian refugees.

The National Water Carrier Project, a project of top priority that needs support, as well as the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, mainly its impacts related to supply chains and food security on the region and Jordan, in particular, were also discussed.

Heads of the funds and Islamic banks expressed their countries’ support for Jordan amid the regional instability, emphasising readiness to consider the Kingdom’s development demands, according to the statement.