On the occasion of the spring 2021 meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Administration Reform, participated on Friday April 9th 2021, to the 103rd meeting of the Development Committee (DC) joint of the WBG/IMF.
In this context, and in his capacity as president of the group of the following countries: Morocco, Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Iran, Pakistan and Tunisia, he made a statement devoted to themes relating mainly to "the WBG's response to the COVID-19 crisis" and to "equitable and affordable access for developing countries to vaccines".
In this regard, he highlighted the extent of the financing needs of developing countries to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis that will become increasingly urgent in the upcoming years.
Given the important role that the private sector can play in the development dynamic, Mr. BENCHAABOUN appealed to the World Bank group to create more synergies between the institutions of the group, in particular the IFC and MIGA.
On the same path, he emphasized the importance of strengthening coordination and cooperation with the IMF and the international institutions community to meet the challenge of the scarcity of the financial resources for development.
Mr. Mohamed Benchaaboun has also seized the opportunity to welcome the provided support of the WBG for the vaccine initiative in the favour of the developing countries. In this regard, he stressed the need to make efforts to ensure equitable, fair and affordable access to vaccines and to encourage the production of vaccines in developing countries.
For the record, the Development Committee meets twice a year, during spring meetings in April and annual assemblies in October, to discuss fundamental issues of development, mobilization of financial resources for developing countries, global trade and the environment.