PAM high level delegation participates at World Bank-IMF Global Parliamentary Conference

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MEDIA INFORMATION: 15/2017
ISSUED ON: 24/04/2017

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The Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, represented by 18 MPs from 9 national delegations and Secretary General, Amb. Sergio Piazzi, participated at the Global Parliamentary Conference organised in Washington DC on 17-18 April 2017 by the World Bank and the IMF. The Conference addressed a number of key-issues relevant to macroeconomic stability in the world.

Particular attention was dedicated to present challenges, including job creation and growth, corruption in government and the private sector, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, elimination of energy subsidies, the building inclusive institutions and parliaments, as well as the economic development and challenges for the sub-Saharan Africa.

At the opening of the event, the World Bank President, Mr. Jim Yong Kim, indicated that, in spite of the positive signals in terms of global economic growth, the main concern of the Bank is the necessity to find a balance between the use of new technologies and the need to preserve and create new jobs. With reference to the impact of the war in Syria on neighbouring countries, Mr. Yong Kim mentioned that the establishment of special economic zones” with preferential investments in Jordan and Lebanon, was one of the measures adopted by the Bank to assist those countries in coping with the millions of refugees, in recognition of their efforts to provide assistance to the victims of the conflict. These zones could also be key elements for the reconstruction of Syria in the post-conflict period.

The event was an excellent opportunity for PAM bilateral consultations with the WB, IMF and UN officials, as well as the parliamentarians of the national delegations. In 2016, the World Bank had established several regional Chapters, one of which dedicated to the Middle-East and North Africa region, with MPs from Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco and Tunisia. The next meeting of this Chapter will take place in Morocco on 19-20 July, and PAM will contribute to it.

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While in Washington, the PAM Secretary General attended also the conference organized by the George Washington University on the “Protection of cultural heritage in the Middle East”, at which he presented the recent resolution adopted by PAM at its 11th Plenary Session in Portugal and Resolution 2347 by the UN Security Council on 24 March 2017.

High-level consultations relevant to the PAM’s work continued in New York with UN Security Council-CTED, IOM, UNDP Arab Bureau, the SDGs Programme Management, the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the Executive Secretary of the International Civil Service Commission. Discussions included the preparations for the signing of two bilateral agreements, as well as joint cooperation in supporting UN and international efforts in Syria and Libya.//

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