News

EBRD and Arab Monetary Fund deepen cooperation in Southern and Eastern Mediterranean

23-04-2012

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) have pledged to deepen their cooperation in order to respond effectively to the economic requirements of emerging Arab democracies.
 
Both organisations are already members of the Deauville Partnership established in 2011 in support of the economic and political changes in the Middle East and North Africa.  A Memorandum of Understanding signed on Friday by the heads of the EBRD and AMF sets out a framework for greater cooperation in countries in this region.
 
The AMF supports the process of economic development in 22 member countries. The EBRD is currently expanding its activities to include the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, focussing specifically on Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.
An EBRD press release said greater cooperation between the two organisations would allow them to achieve synergies and to leverage their respective core competencies and comparative advantages.
 
In particular the AMF and the EBRD will cooperate in promoting financial markets in the countries of joint interest in the region, recognising the AMF's long experience in these countries and the EBRD's specific experience in the capital markets sector.
 
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the accord, EBRD President Thomas Mirow said: “The EBRD has extensive experience in assisting in the development of capital markets and local currency based finance, expertise we look forward to providing in the new region. It is precisely because this is a new region for the EBRD that we attach so much value to working with the AMF, with its wealth of local experience.”
 
Cooperation will focus on the sharing of information, joint missions, shared technical papers and coordinated policy dialogue with the aim of establishing deep, liquid and transparent local currency capital markets in the countries of joint interest in the region.
 
The EBRD was established in 1991 in response to major changes in the political and economic climate in central and eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin wall. Last year, in response to the events of the Arab Spring, it agreed to extend its operations into the southern Mediterranean region. The EBRD finances projects, primarily in the private sector, that serve the transition to market economies and pluralistic democratic societies. The Bank is owned by 61 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank. (ENPI Info Centre)
 
Read more
 
Press release
 
EBRD launches Transition to Transition Initiative, a supportive framework for the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED)
 
ENPI Info Centre – EBRD starts activities in southern Mediterranean with €59 million raised for Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia (14-12-11)
 
Arab Monetary Fund – website
 

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