Al Ula, Saudi Arabia, - February 16, 2025: On the sidelines of the inaugural annual global Conference on Emerging Market Economies in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia (February 16-17), the Saudi Finance Ministry and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) co-hosted a high-level roundtable on "Working Together to Support Recovery in the Middle East's Conflict-Affected Economies", bringing together finance ministers of countries in the region, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Syria, representatives from the World Bank, and heads of other International Financial Institutions and the Arab Coordination Group.
Following the meeting, Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, and Mohammed Aljadaan, Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia, made the following statement:
"This important meeting brought together representatives from the Middle East and key economic and development partners to discuss how we can work together to support recovery in the Middle East's conflict-affected economies."
"We thank all participants for recognizing the urgency and importance of this task, as well as for their commitment to work together to ensure that the conflict-affected countries can start addressing their humanitarian needs. This would help them start rebuilding their economies in an efficient, swift, and durable way for the benefit of their people."
"Participants welcomed the meeting as an opportunity to discuss recent developments and build a common understanding of the challenges facing conflict-affected countries. They emphasized the importance of strengthening coordination to support the recovery of these countries as the spillovers would impact all. Particular attention was paid to the situation in Syria."
Participants agreed on the following priorities to support conflict-affected countries:
- A Continuous Diagnosticof the challenges and economic and social context facing each conflict-affected country, including an assessment of humanitarian and reconstruction needs. Such a diagnostic should identify institution-building priorities, gaps in policies, and financing needs.
- Enhanced Capacity Development (CD) aimed at rapidly scaling up IMF and World Bank CD initiatives to help strengthen and, as needed, build new institutions. Support would need to be tailored to strengthen essential functions of fiscal, monetary and banking institutions.
- Mobilization of financial assistance from the international community . Financial support-coordinated with international and regional development partners-will be needed to fund comprehensive reform programs, including reconstruction and humanitarian aid.
"Participants underscored their readiness to work together and complement each other's efforts while focusing on their institutional mandates. They will continue to work closely and with other partners to further support the international response to the recovery of conflict-affected economies in the Middle East region."
They agreed to establish an informal coordination group to support these efforts. Discussions will be continued at the upcoming IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings on April 21-26 in Washington, D.C."
