IMF-World Bank Meetings: Marrakech all set
12,209 people by the end of September. This is the number of participants already accredited to the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF scheduled for October 09-15. These meetings are being held for the second time in Africa, following those held in Nairobi 50 years ago.
«The challenges facing Africa today are significant, and it was essential that the continent succeed in attracting the attention of institutions such as the WB and the IMF», explained Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Morocco’s minister of Economy and Finance, at a press conference held on October 4 on the site where the Meetings will be held. Her department leads the inter-ministerial committee and coordinates the actions of the various partners. Investing in people, showing resilience, and accelerating growth are the three main themes to be addressed during the Assemblies. «These are also key issues and challenges for Africa, which has the opportunity to make its voice heard», insisted the minister of Finance. Hosting an event of this scale in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Morocco and the Al Haouz region was also a challenge for Morocco.
«Faced with the natural disaster it has just experienced, Morocco was able to rapidly deploy solutions to save lives, house disaster victims and, above all, set up a reconstruction program just as quickly», recalled the minister. All these signs of resilience are at the heart of the scientific program of the World Bank and IMF meetings. The Fund also focuses on improving people’s lives and managing change. For its part, Morocco will be organizing conferences on financial inclusion, entrepreneurship and innovation, sustainable development and tolerance and living together. As was the case in 2016 for COP22, and again for the Global Forum on Migration in 2018, an entire village will be set up at Bab Ighli.
The site where the meetings will be held is designed in the shape of a circle 550 meters in diameter. It covers an area of 23 hectares. It is organized into four quarters with a fluid architecture for the participants. The 44-hectare site, half of which is already developed, was chosen for the conference because of its location in the heart of Marrakech and its proximity to hotels.
Steering
And as with any major conference, a National Steering Committee (NSC), chaired by the Head of Government, Aziz Akhannouch, oversaw the services to be provided as host country. Work aiming at turning the site into a campus capable of accommodating 14,000 people, with conference rooms, offices, catering facilities, etc., began on January 26 and was completed on September 1st. It took more than nine months of work, and hundreds of workers and technicians who worked tirelessly to deliver an exhibition palace and host such important meetings with 189 official delegations.
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