Strategic Cooperation Program (SCP) Brief

The central objective of the World Bank’s Strategic Cooperation Program (SCP) in the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is to serve as an independent and objective adviser on development policies and programs.  The SCP assists GCC governments through knowledge sharing, capacity building and technical assistance.

The SCP began over thirty years ago with advisory services to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  It later expanded to cover the remaining GCC countries, namely, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and United Arab Emirates (UAE). High per capita income makes these countries ineligible for receiving loans from the World Bank.  However, their development needs often require inputs from an objective advisor, and the World Bank is uniquely positioned to provide expert advice on strategic development issues.

The scope of the SCP’s advisory services ranges from ad hoc technical assistance provided to a particular ministry or agency to multi-sector and multi-year programs.   At present, the SCP covers all the main sectors of the World Bank’s expertise (Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Network, Human Development Network and Socially Sustainable Development Group, and their main subsectors), though to varying degrees in different countries. 

The Program covers all its costs through reimbursement of expenses.  In recent years, the volume of reimbursements received annually has amounted to around $11 million.

The SCP is also active at the regional level. It provides advisory services to the GCC Council on cross-country issues. It also serves as the World Bank’s primary coordination channel for joint work and partnerships with regional development organizations such as the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Islamic Development Bank, the Saudi Fund for Development and others.

The SCP is managed through three offices: a Regional Office in Riyadh under a Country Director, a Country Office in Kuwait and a Program Unit in Washington, D.C. 

 

All dollar figures are in US dollar equivalents. September, 2011

For more information, please contact:
In Washington, Lara Saade; Lsaade@worldbank.org; Esther Rosen; Erosen@worldbank.org
In Kuwait, Lamia Sulaiman: lsulaiman@worldbank.org