Rabadi attends annual meeting of EBRD board of governors

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation in the caretaker government Wissam Rabadi on Thursday attended the 2020 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors, according to a ministry statement. 

The minister expressed the Kingdom’s supportive stance towards EBRD’s new strategy and framework for 2021-2025, highlighting the role of the bank’s new strategy in enhancing the bank’s position and supporting its objectives, as well as supporting the bank's transitional and transformational impact in the EBRD's countries of operations, including Jordan.

The Kingdom is proceeding with the implementation of the planned reforms despite the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, in accordance with the five-year reform matrix, which was launched in the London Conference initiative, Rabadi said.

The bank will work to expand its operations to include the countries of the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region and the expansion to sub-Saharan Africa, according to the statement.

At its 2020 Annual Meeting, held via videoconference due to the pandemic and delayed from May, the EBRD’s Board of Governors approved a new bank strategy for the next five years that will see over 50 per cent of its annual investments dedicated to green finance by 2025, according to its website.

The new five-year strategy looks beyond the pandemic.

“We need to preserve the progress made so far in our countries’ transitions. We also have to move even faster towards a more resilient and more sustainable future,” said Acting EBRD President Jürgen Rigterink as the strategy was put forward to the governors, who represent the EBRD’s 71 shareholders.

Under the new strategy, the EBRD also aims to promote equality of opportunity through access to skills and employment, finance and entrepreneurship and support for women, young people and under-served communities.

It will also accelerate digital transition, unleashing the power of technology to bring about change for the better.

At their meeting on Wednesday, the governors agreed to a request from Iraq to become a shareholder of the bank.