JEDDAH, 13 June 2003 — An international media event on Sunday will mark the 100-day countdown to the annual meetings of the boards of governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Members of the Dubai 2003 Organizing Committee will address local, regional and global media to brief them on the importance of the annual meetings, which are held in an Arab nation for the first time in their history. “This event will underline the UAE’s readiness to host this prestigious event and highlight the wealth of benefits this opportunity is generating for the UAE as host and the Middle East region as a whole,” Dubai 2003 General Coordinator Ibrahim Belselah said. “The media function will act as the genesis of the build-up toward the actual start of the event. In some ways, it will be the opening ceremony for the Dubai 2003 meetings — but three months ahead of the actual event,” Belselah said, adding that Sunday’s media function will draw up to 200 journalists and TV crews from all over the world, from as far away as Finland and Australia. Participants will be briefed about the progress made so far in organizing the world’s most influential meetings as far as global finance and economy are concerned. “With the shift in focus of the World Bank toward ‘soft infrastructure’ like education and poverty alleviation, these meetings assume greater importance in terms of global human development. As well as being a full and frank forum for discussion, this is a great opportunity for us to market Dubai, the UAE and the Arab world to global media institutions.”
According to Belselah, these are channels through which information is disseminated throughout the world. “Information that forms public opinion about us, information that generates business — whether it is increased tourism or greater investment flows.” Leading officials from committees involved in Dubai 2003 will address the media as well as head sessions in their areas of specialization. This year, the annual meetings will last for two days from Sept. 23. The overall event will be held for eight days from Sept. 18. The annual meetings of the boards of governors of the World Bank Group and the IMF were first held in Washington in 1946. They are hosted by an international city once every three years. “The UAE and Dubai were selected because of their highly developed transportation and logistics infrastructure, growing importance as a financial hub and its established position as an oasis of opportunity,” the organizers said.