Contact: In Khartoum: Nada Amin, (249) 155155021 Ext 119 namin@worldbank.org KHARTOUM - August, 9, 2006 – H.E. El-Zubair Ahmed El Hassan, Minister of Finance and National Economy and the World Bank Vice President for Africa Region, Mr. Gobind Nankani have officially inaugurated today the World Bank Country Office for Sudan. Some 60 people, including senior Government officials and representatives of civil society, academia, private sector and the media attended the inauguration ceremony. H.E. El-Zubair Ahmed El Hassan, Minister of Finance and National Economy said “The inauguration of the World Bank Country Office for Sudan should be seen as a symbol of a new cooperation between Sudan and the Bank. I acknowledge the current role of the World Bank as a trustee of the Multi Donors Trust Funds and this is helping greatly in the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the country.” Vice President Nankani who is visiting Sudan for a two-day trip to Khartoum and Juba on August 9th and 10th will meet senior officials from the Government of National Unity (GoNU) and Government of South Sudan (GoS) with a key objective of reviewing and improving the effectiveness of World Bank's operational program in Sudan, and in particular the Multi Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) operating principles and functions. The World Bank took a major step by reestablishing its presence in Sudan, after the historical signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Nairobi (Kenya), on 31 December 2004, ending two decades of civil war in the country. The Bank Country Office moved to its new location in Central Khartoum in May 2006 and was previously functioning from a small rented space at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) compound. The Vise President said that “I consider the reestablishment of the relation between the World Bank and Sudan asa historic event The World Bank Vice President said “I consider my visit to Khartoum as a historical event in Sudan- World Bank relations, which commenced in 1957. This inauguration has a major significance as it marks the reestablishment of relation after 12 years of suspension.” The Bank’s decision to re-engage in Sudan as a trustee of the donors contributions came upon the request of the Government of Sudan and bilateral donors to administer the two Multi Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) that were established at the Oslo Pledging Conference in April 2005 with an initial amount of about $500 million to enable effective donors coordination and aid harmonization for Sudan’s recovery and reconstruction needs as outlined by the Joint Assessment Mission (JAM) that was carried out by the World Bank and the UN in December 2003. The strategic objectives of the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTFs) are aimed to support priority activities identified by the JAM for pro-peace, pro-poor investments, while ensuring government ownership, transparency and accountability in the use of MDTF resources. The MDTFs are managed by two Technical Secretariats, one for a national fund for war-affected areas of northern states and a second one for Southern Sudan. It is expected for the MDTF’s activities to be functional throughout the six years of the interim period unless expressed otherwise by GONU, GOSS, donors and the World Bank. The Bank as an administrator of the MDTFs resources provides technical assistance and support for reconstruction and capacity building efforts to the Government of National Unity (GoNU) and the Government for South Sudan (GoS). The World Bank has not had an active lending program in Sudan since 1993, because of significant arrears on past debt-servicing obligations and the Bank's Resident Mission was closed that year. Since that time, the Bank has provided technical assistance to Sudan for a number of development projects. Full financial engagement by the World Bank is, however, contingent on the resolution of arrears to the Bank and other international financial institutions. Sudan, which defaulted on its debt repayment to the Bank in 1993, is still not eligible to borrow from the International Development Association (IDA), the Bank’s institution that provides grants and credits on concessional terms. Sudan is in arrears to IDA for about US$330 million and Sudan’s external debt is about US$26 billion, most of which is in arrears. Sudan, however, could become eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the most recent multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI). By re-engaging in Sudan, the Bank stresses the importance of extending the principles of the peace agreement between the GoS and the SPLM to other marginalized post- conflict areas in the country, notably the western Sudanese region of Darfur, where a recently signed peace deal offers hope to end the suffering of millions of people in the war-torn region. Sudan joined the World Bank in 1957, beginning with a credit from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) for railways and water transportation in 1958.
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