UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed meets World Bank President Ajay Banga

Image credit: WAM

The UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan received Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group, at Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi.

The two leaders discussed cooperation between the UAE and the World Bank.

The meeting also addressed global economic conditions, the economic impact of crises, and the contributions of the World Bank in supporting regional and global development.

The discussion touched on the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), which the UAE will host later this year.

The importance of climate financing in bolstering the global response to climate change and achieving sustainability goals was highlighted, as well as the role of the World Bank in this regard.

World Bank to fund development projects in MENA

The World Bank recently announced that it was teaming up with Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to support projects in the MENA region with a packaged up to $6bn until 2026.

The partnership was unveiled on the sidelines of the Future Investment Initiative summit in Riyadh. “The World Bank is recruiting new partners and reimagining partnerships,” World Bank President Ajay Banga said.

The World Bank leader also warned of geopolitical tensions heightened by the Middle East conflict as posing the biggest threat to the world economy.

“There is so much going on in the world and geopolitics in the wars that you’re seeing and what just happened recently in Israel and Gaza. At the end of the day, when you put all this together, I think the impact on economic development is even more serious,” Banga said.