HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs is set to head the UAE’s delegation at the annual joint meetings of the Arab financial institutions, which will be held from April 8 to9 in Tunis. The delegation will include HE Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance (MoF); HE Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary of International Financial Relations Sector at MoF; HE Musabah Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary of Support Services Sector at MoF; along with other members from the Ministry.

HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer will head the opening session of the annual meetings and will moderate the rest of the sessions which include meetings for the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment & Development and the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Commenting on the UAE’s participation in the annual meetings, HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer highlighted the country’s commitment to support economic and social development initiatives in Arab countries and around the world. The UAE leadership has stressed the need to work alongside different entities in order to achieve prosperity and a good quality of life across the world; which the UAE aims to achieve through its participation in such meetings.

HE added: “The UAE believes in the importance of the role played by Arab financial institutions and entities in supporting joint Arab action and providing a suitable environment for economic development. As such, MoF will contribute to increasing the Arab financial institutions’ capital, following the directives of the UAE Cabinet. The total UAE contribution will increase by 1.1 billion AED, reaching an overall contribution of 4.3 billion AED.”

This year’s annual meetings will feature discussions regarding a number of topics related to the Arab financial institutions, including the annual performance reports, general plans for the current fiscal year and income and expenditure accounts, in addition to the institutions’ activities, programmes and future plans. The meetings will also feature the fifth session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Finance, where several topics will be addressed, including economic and financial conditions, the developments of the global economy, international efforts to establish global financial stability and the relationships between the Arab Group, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, in addition to the follow-up reports for the UAE’s initiative to support economic stability in Arab countries.

During the meetings in Tunis, a ratification of the joint financial and operational performance of Arab financial institutions for the fiscal year 2013 is expected to take place. These authorities offered funds that amounted to 4.2 billion US dollars, including loans for development projects and structural adjustment balances and investment and export credit insurance services. The total amount of funds and facilities provided by Arab financial institutions, since their inception, has now reached a value of around 90 billion U.S. dollars. These funds have allowed member states to finance development projects and trade, and guarantee investments and exports.

The UAE enjoys a privileged position among the Arab financial institutions as it is considered as a leading founder and a major contributor to these institutions’ capital. It was agreed during the 2013 Arab League Summit in Riyadh that member states would increase the capital of Arab financial institutions by 50%. As such, the UAE increased its contribution to the Arab Monetary Fund by 300.6 million AED, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development by 544.4 million and the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment & Development by 240.3 million AED. Additionally, the UAE increased its contribution to the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation’s capital by 15.2 million AED.

As non-profit development institutions owned by member states of the Arab League, these organisations are reinvesting all annual profits in order to strengthen and activate Arab solidarity and contribute to the financing of economic developments in the Arab world. The total net profit of all entities reached 501.1 million US dollars in 2013.

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