Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
The Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WB) meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions. These Annual Meetings are usually held in October in Washington, D.C. and every three years in another member country.
The inaugural meeting of the Boards of Governors was held in March 1946 in Savannah, Georgia, U.S.A., and the first Annual Meetings were held that same year in Washington, D.C.
In conjunction with the Annual Meetings, several bodies meet, including the Development Committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), and the Group of Twenty-Four. Following their meetings, the Development Committee and the IMFC, as well as several other groups, issue press releases. The Annual Meetings schedule includes a plenary session where Governors tackle various issues. The Boards of Governors make decisions on how to deal with current international monetary issues and approve the corresponding decisions.
The Annual Meetings are chaired by a Governor of the IMF and the World Bank, with the chairmanship rotating among member countries from one year to the next.
The Annual Meetings bring together a large number of officials from member countries and provide an opportunity for broad-based consultations, both formal and informal. In addition, numerous seminars are held on the sidelines of these meetings, including sessions organized by the staff of the two institutions. These seminars are designed to foster exchanges between private sector representatives, member country delegates, and senior IMF and World Bank officials.
IMF and World Bank 2023 Annual Meetings in Marrakech
In October 2018, Morocco was officially appointed as host country for the 2023 Annual Meetings. This nomination marks the return of these Annual Meetings to Africa after they were first held in Nairobi (Kenya) in 1973 and affirms Morocco's positioning on the African continent and the MENA region.
The 2023 edition of Annual Meetings will be held in Marrakech from October 9-15. More than 14000 high-level participants are expected, including Ministers of Economy and Finance and Central Bank Governors of the 189 member countries as well as representatives of civil society, the private sector, international media, and academics.
Mr. Abdellatif JOUAHRI, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, and Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, announced at the 2022 Annual Meetings held in Washington that Morocco will host the 2023’s edition:
• Scientific Committee
A Scientific Committee was set up to discuss Morocco's presence in the 2023 Annual Meetings program and to ensure that the communication campaign will focus on the topics to be discussed at the Meetings. The Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib was appointed as the Chairman of this Committee and its members are as follows:
- Minister of Economy and Finance
- Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development
- Minister Delegate in charge of Digital Transition and Administrative Reform
- Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates
- President of Mohammed V University
- President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
- President of the “Policy Center for the New South”
- Representative of the UN-Women in Morocco
- President of the Moroccan Confederation of Enterprises.
The Committee is mainly in charge of:
- The contribution to the organization of events and the mobilization of Moroccan speakers in the various communication actions planned by the IMF and the WB prior to the 2023 Annual Meetings;
- The suggestion of themes, contents and speakers for the side events to be organized jointly with the IMF and the WB during the 2023 Annual Meetings;
- The suggestion, contribution and mobilization of Moroccan speakers in the various side events planned in the 2023 Annual Meetings program in order to ensure an adequate representation of Morocco throughout the program;
- The suggestion of communication actions to be implemented within the framework of the Morocco Pavilion;
• Focus points of the 2023 Annual Meetings
As part of the 2023 Annual Meetings, Morocco’s communication campaign will stress on six focus points:
- Financial and digital inclusion;
- Sustainable development;
- Reforms of the international financial institutions;
- Entrepreneurship and innovation;
- Social nets;
- Tolerance and co-existence.
Their purpose, on the one hand, is to enrich the debates on current topics at the regional and international levels. On the other hand, they will allow shedding light on the reforms undertaken in these areas in order to contribute to our country’s image outreach.
These focus points will be part of the events to be organized by Morocco ahead of /or at the sidelines of the 2023AMs, in collaboration with the World Bank and the IMF, possibly at the occasion of the senior officials’ visits of both institutions to Morocco.
Statement by World Bank President Ajay Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah, and Bank Al-Maghrib Governor Abdellatif Jouahri on the Marrakech Principles for Global Cooperation.
