Mr. CHORFI, Director of Treasury and External Finance of the Ministry of Economy and Finance represented Mr. Salaheddine Mezouar, Minister of Economy and Finance and Governor to the WB for Morocco at the IMF/ WB Spring Meetings held on 24th and 25th April 2010 in Washington. In April 25th 2010, Mr. CHORFI attended, at the head of the Moroccan delegation, the meeting of the Development Committee, a Joint Ministerial Committee of the WB and IMF, where Morocco is a member and whose main purpose is to examine issues relating to the transfer of real resources to developing countries.
The work of the Committee focused on: (i) the second phase of voice reform and representation of developing and transitional countries at the WBG, (ii) the strategic directions to guide reform and the action of the WBG in the post-crisis period and (iii) improving the financial capacity of the WB and the International Finance Corporation.
Mr. MEZOUAR focused, in a statement distributed to the CD, on the particular context where the global economy, after a deep recession, begins its crisis recovery which remains, however, slow and fragile.
Mr. MEZOUAR stressed that the post-crisis is an opportunity for developing countries to achieve sustainable post-crisis. Therefore, reform efforts namely improving the business climate and liberalizing trade to promote growth and job creation seem essential.
Likewise, Mr. MEZOUAR felt that further efforts should be made to accelerate the pace of the MDGs taking into account first the year 2015 as a dead line and second the extent of Delays by certain countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Minister supported the results of the Bank`s adjustment process that must be committed and go through a revision of its goals which must focus on five priorities: (i) reducing poverty and vulnerability, (ii) creating opportunities for growth, (iii) developing cooperative models, (iv) strengthening governance and (v) managing risks and anticipating crisis.
As to strengthening the financial capacity of the Bank, Mr. MEZOUAR noted that the Bank forecasts commitment may be largely exceeded in the period 2010-2012 and it should become necessary to preserve and reinforce the financing and lending capacities of the Bank. In this regard, Mr. MEZOUAR reiterated Morocco`s adherence to the general and selective capital increase principle of the IBRD`s capital.
For Mr. MEZOUAR, the increase of the development mandate assigned to the World Bank requires not only improving its financial capacity but also a greater representation of developing countries and transition economies (DCTE) in decision-making bodies within the WBG.
In this context, the Minister of Economy and Finance called to maintain the first phase of voice reform and representation that holds an additional increase of at least 3% of voting rights for DCTE in addition to 1.46% made in the first phase. Mr. MEZOUAR believed that the gains achieved in the first phase of the reform could at least be preserved in the realignment of units.
In addition to the World Bank /IMF Spring Meetings, the Moroccan delegation which participated in the spring meetings, took part in the Arab Governors` meeting with the President of the World Bank Robert ZOELLICK. Discussions, at this meeting, focused on the need for further reforms such as improving the business climate and trade liberalization to promote growth and job creation in the Arab world, strengthening the Bank`s resources and actions necessary to support development and fight against poverty in the medium term.
At this meeting, many issues linked to strengthening the participation of developing countries in the World Bank/IMF decision-making process were discussed. The aim is to achieve an equitable distribution of voting powers among developing and developed countries and promoting the Arab candidates` recruitment including senior positions in both institutions.
Similarly, the Moroccan delegation participated in the African Governors` meeting with the President of the World Bank. The issues discussed were related to the responses and initiatives of the World Bank as part of its mission to fight against poverty especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This meeting was also an opportunity for African Governors to express their expectations for more funding for infrastructure, private sector development, support in the fight against the effects of climate change and the regional integration bearing in mind the needs of this part of the world.
Moreover, the delegation participated in the roundtable organized by the World Bank on issues relating to` recent economic development .Discussions focused on the context in which post-crisis, some developing countries are transformed into economic power and the importance of multilateralism in the global economy.
Meanwhile, "the Bali climate change" meeting discussed issues related to climate change after the Copenhagen Summit and the financing strategy related to this issue. At this meeting, emphasis was placed on the importance of resources to be mobilized to develop actions both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. It was clarified that these resources should be additional and should not come as a substitute for financing provided under the official development assistance.
At the bilateral level, Mr CHORFI and Mr. De Fontaine Vive, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank met to review the state of Morocco and the EIB relations. They also discussed the status of projects financed by the EIB and the calendar of the scheduled meetings.
The Moroccan delegation, also met with Mr. Justin Lin, the World Bank chief economist, who made a presentation on the evolution of the global economy.
At the meeting, Mr. CHORFI made a brief presentation of the macroeconomic framework of Morocco by focusing on the fact that the national economy showed resilience to the global crisis and to maintain good economic fundamentals, despite a difficult international context marked by economic and financial crisis and its corollary, the decline in global demand.