Press Release No. 64
BOARDS OF GOVERNORS 2002 ANNUAL MEETINGS WASHINGTON, D.C.
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
WORLD BANK GROUP
INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORPORATION
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION
INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR SETTLEMENT OF INVESTMENT DISPUTES
MULTILATERAL INVESTMENT GUARANTEE AGENCY
September 29, 2002
Concluding Remarks by the Chairman, the Hon. AHMED MACKI,
Governor of the Fund and the Bank for OMAN,
at the Closing Joint Session
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CONCLUDING REMARKS BY
THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARDS OF GOVERNORS AND
THE GOVERNOR OF THE FUND AND THE BANK FOR
THE SULTANATE OF OMAN
H.E. Ahmed Macki
Fellow Governors, as we come to a close in our deliberations this year, let us try to
reflect and take stock of what we have discussed, and how our work over the past few days
can help improve the lives of those we represent. Although our Annual Meetings were
shortened this year, I feel that we were still able to focus on a range of important issues,
which are relevant both to the membership as well as to our two institutions, and I would like
to review them briefly.
First, the wide-ranging agreements reached at Doha, Monterrey, and Johannesburg
have provided all of us with a great deal of hope that we will now be able to make real
progress in tackling what I referred to in my opening address as our greatest challenge, the
meaningful reduction of poverty. A tremendous opportunity is before us now to work
together to implement quickly the commitments that have been made, both by developed and
developing countries, to improve the lives of those living in poverty, particularly in those
quarters of the world where conflict is ongoing or has recently been resolved. We must not
let this moment pass us by and allow the Millennium Development Goals simply to become
hollow targets. We have to fulfill our promises to ensure that we halve hunger and poverty by
2015, as the poorest of our citizens are counting on us and our institution