AIWF Board Member Raghda Kurdi, Member of the Board of Directors, Hayat Pharmaceutical Industries, Jordan, attended the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s 2018 Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Jordan on 9-10 May 2018. The Forum, themed ‘Energising Economies’, took place at the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Centre, located near Sweimeh overlooking one of the world’s most inspiring natural landscapes, the Dead Sea.
The Forum programme aimed to engage participants with informed, sometimes provocative discussion and debate on a variety of topical issues – from business climate to economic growth, from targeted, profitable investment to environmental protection. In each of the discussions, knowledgeable, renowned speakers were brought together to assess today’s state of affairs, while looking ahead to the challenges and prospects for tomorrow.
During the Forum, Janet Heckman, the EBRD Managing Director for the SEMED region and Heike Harmgart, the EBRD Director for the Eastern Mediterranean countries, provided a summary of the Bank’s investments and activities across the region including in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and West Bank and Gaza. They were joined by the head of offices of Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia as well as the regional economist. EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti delivered an update on the meeting of the Board of Governors, the Bank’s highest decision-making authority, and EBRD Chief Economist Sergei Guriev and Artur Radziwill, EBRD Director, Country Economics and Policy, presented the latest macroeconomic forecast for the EBRD regions, providing an overview of economic growth prospects and analysis of future challenges.
The EBRD Annual Business Forum attracts senior government officials, leading financial and corporate executives, and entrepreneurs large and small – as well as representatives of civil society organisations and the international and regional media. EBRD’s first ever Annual Meeting and Business Forum in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean region was attended by over 2,250 international delegates and was visited by His Majesty King Abdullah II and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, who delivered keynote addresses in the opening session.
AIWF has longstanding links with the EBRD and has attended its Annual Forums over several years. AIWF looks forward to even closer collaboration in the years ahead with the EBRD to nurture the longstanding ties between both organisations towards empowering and inspiring a sustainable future for women and youth in the MENA region and beyond.
Photo courtesy of the Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan
