World Bank vows stronger Arab ties

DEVELOPMENT PLEDGE: Common challenges in the region include a spiralling youth population, and the gap between education and the requirements of the market. (Julio Etchart, The World Bank)

The World Bank has vowed to increase its engagement with the Arab world and promote development in the region under a new initiative announced on Wednesday.

The organisation, which provides loans to developing countries for infrastructure projects, said it wanted stronger involvement in the region through partnerships with stakeholders including governments, parliaments and civil society, Kuwait’s state news agency Kuna reported.

Despite development across the Arab world it was “still one of the least integrated regions of the world, particularly in trade matters,” external affairs VP Marwan Muasher told journalists in London.

The former Jordanian foreign minister said the bank would target the Arab world alongside other “principal regions” to enable it to become more involved in globalisation and “inclusive sustainable development.”

Common challenges facing the region included the “spiralling rise in the number of youths in the population, empowering women and creating more work opportunities for them,” he continued, adding that public governance, the removal of trade barriers between Arab countries and the gap between education and market needs were also high on the agenda.

The Bank is currently in talks with a number of Arab and Islamic funds to explore possible joint ventures, Muasher said.

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