The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the establishment of a new regional office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the aim of strengthening partnerships with countries in the Middle East and beyond. This initiative aims to bolster capacity building, regional surveillance, and outreach efforts in order to promote stability, growth, and regional integration.
By establishing this office, the IMF intends to enhance its engagement with regional institutions, governments, and other stakeholders. The IMF said it is grateful for Saudi Arabia’s financial contribution to boost capacity development to IMF members—including fragile states.
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The inaugural director of the regional office will be Mr. Abdoul Aziz Wane, a highly seasoned IMF leader who possesses extensive knowledge of the institution and maintains a vast network of policymakers and academics worldwide. Mr. Wane hails from Senegal.
Bringing together policymakers and economists
To mark the commencement of operations for the IMF regional office in Riyadh, a two-day conference has been organized by the IMF and Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance on April 24-25. The conference’s objective is to review the key principles of industrial policy and draw insights from its successes and challenges in other regions, such as the Asian miracles. Moreover, this theme holds particular significance for the oil-rich economies of the region as they undertake ambitious reforms to diversify their economies by redirecting resources towards tradable activities, thereby generating well-paying jobs for their citizens.
The conference will bring together regional and international policymakers, as well as leading economists specializing in industrial policy. Its opening will be presided over by His Excellency Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s minister of Economy and Planning. The event will further conclude with a roundtable discussion between policymakers from the Gulf Cooperation Council region, led by Jihad Azour, director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department.
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