List of proposed meetings

At the occasion of the 2007 Annual Meetings of the Word Bank and IMF

 

October 19-22, 2007, Washington, DC

 

 

PNoWB and the World Bank have prepared a program for MPs to meet with senior leadership from the World Bank and the IMF at the occasion of the 2007 Annual Meetings in Washington from October 19-22, 2007.

 

This program includes two sets of events:

 

• MPs are invited to join and contribute to a selected number of events organized at the occasion of the Annual Meetings;
• Specific meetings are currently being organized for the MP delegation with senior management (to be confirmed and scheduled).

 

 

Saturday 20 October

 

 

9:00 a.m.	Press Briefing: Sub-Saharan Africa Economic Outlook
11:00 a.m.	Press Briefing: African Finance Ministers
2:00 – 3:30	PNoWB: parliamentarians as agents of change and advocates for development Chair: Betty McCollum, Congresswoman, United States, Chair of  PNoWB   During this session MPs will be given an in depth introduction about the PNoWB: How has PNoWB contributed to strengthening the voice of legislators in the development debate? How has the network strengthened transparency and accountability in international financial institutions? How can PNoWB members respond to the global governance challenge? Discussions will also include an overview of the PNoWB governance structure.
4:00 – 6:00 Room JB 1-080	Africa Regional Integration Strategy Speakers: Obiageli Ezekwesili, Vice President for the Africa Region, World Bank This meeting will be the occasion to discuss the African regional integration strategy with African NGOs and other stakeholders, in order to improve opportunities for greater citizen voice in regional policy debates

 

 

Sunday 21 October

 

10:00 am (tbc)	Discussion on the second generation of PRSP Speakers : CSO, UNDP, Bank, and Fund representatives. This session aims to discuss policy content and PRSP process in Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, and Burkina Faso.
3:00 pm Venue: IFC Auditorium, 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W	Per Jacobsson Foundation Lecture by Dr. Alan Greenspan, formerly Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System of the United States on "Balance of Payments Imbalances"
3:00 - 4:30 pm  room HQ2  1-250  IMF	Macroeconomic Aspects of Aid Scaling Up and the Role of the Fund Sponsors: IMF's Fiscal Affairs and Policy Development and Review Departments Chair: Mr. Mark Plant, Deputy Director, Policy Development and Review Department, IMF; Speakers: Hon. James Musoni, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda; Mr. Louis Kasekende, Chief Economist, African Development Bank; Donor representative [TBC]; Mr. John Ambler, Senior Vice President for Programs, Oxfam America The prospect of scaled-up aid presents low-income countries with opportunities for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Managing these aid flows, however, also poses significant challenges for macroeconomic management. These challenges arise from the potential impact of higher external inflows on competitiveness, inflation, and debt sustainability, and the complications posed by aid volatility and uncertainty for longer-term fiscal planning. This session will focus on the fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policy challenges of managing aid, including issues of competitiveness, inflation, government spending, and debt sustainability, and the complications posed by aid volatility.
tbc	Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA)  – evaluating poverty and social impacts of reforms and development assistance programs Suring this session, representatives from the World Bank, the IMF and OXFAM will discuss PSIAs, in the context a new document produced by OCFAM

 

 

Monday 22 October

 

9:30 a.m.

Annual Meetings Opening Plenary Session Opening speeches by Robert Zoellick, President, World Bank, and Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director, IMF

 

The following meetings are also getting organized (to be confirmed and scheduled):

 

 

§         Meeting with Bert Koenders, Development Cooperation Minister, The Netherlands, and former chair of the PNoWB

 

This meeting will be the occasion to discuss PNoWB development and activities, building on the experience and lessons-learned of Mr. Koenders’s past experience as chair of PNoWB. Minister Koenders will also share his views on the broad development agenda and the need for reform of the IFIs.

 

§         Informal meeting with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, incoming Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

 

In his statement to the IMF Executive Board on September 20, 2007, Mr. Strauss Kahn mentioned the “the task of the next MD is to go on rebuilding the credibility and the efficiency of the Fund.”  He also added that “…most emerging, developing and less developed countries do question the legitimacy of the Fund”.

This meeting will be the occasion to discuss with Mr. Strauss Khan his proposals “to rebuild both the relevance and the legitimacy of this organization”

 

§         Meeting with Marwan Muasher, Senior Vice President for External Affairs

 

Engaging elected representatives and parliaments in the organization’s programs and policies are important objectives of the World Bank. This meeting will be the occasion to discuss how to work more effectively and efficiently with PNoWB.

 

§         Meeting with François Bourguignon, Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist

 

As the global environment evolves, the World Bank Group is considering possible changes to its  long-term strategy to better respond to the needs of the wide range of clients and stakeholders it serves. As one part of this effort, work began early in 2007 on a Long-Term Strategic Exercise (LTSE).   The LTSE is analyzing the environment in which the Bank operates in terms of three dimensions of change:

-         The likely evolution of the global economy, including potential graduation of several middle-income countries from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and likely movement of some low-income countries from the International Development Association (IDA) to IBRD status;

-         Internal and external changes likely to influence national development priorities;

-         The changing comparative advantage of the World Bank Group.

 

This meeting will be the occasion to discuss the potential future orientations of the World Bank, and the role that parliamentarians and parliaments could play in the new emerging aid paradigm.

 

§         Meeting with Philippe Le Houérou , Vice President, Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships, World Bank

 

The rising complexity of the aid landscape combined to new global challenges, make IDA’s support to the country-based framework even more vital. However, to fulfill this role successfully, IDA will have to adapt and intensify its efforts to (i) strengthen complementarity with other approaches to aid delivery; (ii) ensure appropriate sectoral funding, (iii) addressing critical global challenges with an increased priority given to climate change; and (iv) and enhancing alignment and harmonization.

Donors get together every three years to replenish IDA funds. The IDA15 replenishment will raise funds for poor countries for the three-year period between July 2008 and June 2011.

This meeting will provide an opportunity to:

1-     Review what  IDA achieved in select areas over the last 10 years;

2-     Discuss the themes identified during the first two meetings related to IDA 15 replenishment: (i) the role of IDA in the global aid architecture; (ii) the effectiveness of IDA's assistance at the country level; (iii) IDA's role in fragile states.

 

§         Meeting with Obiageli Ezekwesili,Vice President for the Africa Region, World Bank

Most of the African clients of the World Bank benefit from IDA funding to boost their economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions. IDA is indeed one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 80 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. It is the single largest source of donor funds for basic social services in the poorest countries.

At a crucial phase of the IDA15 Replenishment negotiation, this meeting with the regional Vice-President for Africa at the World Bank will be the occasion to:

i)                    Present  and discuss IDA achievements in Africa;

ii)                   Discuss the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of IDA instruments;

iii)                 Discuss the importance of a strong IDA replenishment to better meet the very significant needs for concessional funds that the IDA's 80 eligible borrowers have

 

 

§         Meeting with Danny Leipziger , Vice President and Head of the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network

 

There is a significant shift in the development business – away from an international aid architecture based on a few large donors to a more competitive and atomistic aid landscape, marked by the entry of new actors. Although traditional official donors remain the major players, new public and private actors are increasingly active in development assistance, leading IFIs to redefine their role and value added in a rapidly changing environment. Furthermore, the proliferation of donor channels, the fragmentation of ODA, and the mounting degree of earmarking of aid could reduce the overall effectiveness of aid.

 

The meeting will be the occasion to discuss the following points:

-         What is the role for multilateral institutions and bilateral agencies in the future? At the margins, by focusing on niche markets, and filling in gaps (i.e. in fragile states)?

-         What are the impact of this aid fragmentation in terms of aid harmonization and aid effectiveness?

-         What is the significance of the rise of “emerging donors” for parliamentarians?

 

 

§         Meeting with Shigeo Katsu , Regional Vice President, Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region 

 

This meeting will be the occasion to discuss the following points:

-         The World Bank's work in the EU member countries;

-         The Bank's role in the ECA region more generally;

-         The projects targeting the Roma community;

-         Environmental issues in the ECA region including the Aral Sea.

 

 

§         Meeting with Jean Michel Severino, CEO of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) tbc