Contact:
In Washington: Dina El Naggar (202) 473-3245
Delnaggar@worldbank.org Washington, 8 May, 2008- World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick met with senior officials of the Islamic Development Bank during a recent visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The visit reflects Mr. Zoellick’s emphasis on enhancing development cooperation and ongoing consultations on the Arab World Initiative between the World Bank and regional development banks, civil society, private sector representatives and governments. In his meeting with Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank, Mr. Zoellick reviewed progress on bilateral cooperation between the two institutions and discussed recent developments including the food security crises, aid to Africa, water and climate change. He acknowledged the institution’s leadership role in Islamic finance and its growing importance and contribution to the development process of its 56 member countries through various programmes and initiatives. Mr. Zoellick expressed his eagerness to work collaboratively with the Islamic Development Bank to strengthen development effectiveness and to ensure that there are no missed opportunities in dealing with the key development challenges. The two development finance chiefs also discussed the Arab World Initiative, a new strategy for World Bank engagement in the Arab region. Dr Ali commended this new initiative and said it "will provide further partnership opportunities and create greater synergies between our two institutions". Dr. Ali also expressed his gratitude for the World Bank’s support towards the establishment of the Arab Water Academy, which will be hosted by IDB's Dubai-based International Centre for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, under the umbrella of the Arab Water Council. Both institutions agreed to give new impetus to ongoing bilateral cooperation and to further enhance development cooperation in the areas of agricultural development as part of the response to the global food crisis, Islamic finance, microfinance, education, water, and knowledge-sharing. For more information on the World Bank Program in the Middle East and North Africa, please visit: www.worldbank.org/mna |
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