The UAE signed a host country agreement with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund on October 18 for the institutions’ 2029 Annual Meetings, which will be held in Abu Dhabi.
The agreement was signed in Bangkok on the final day of the 2026 Annual Meetings, hosted by Thailand. It sets the framework for the three parties to prepare for the event, The Nation Thailand reported.
Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, the UAE’s minister of state for financial affairs, and Khaled Mohamed Balama, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE and the country’s governor at the IMF, signed for the UAE.
World Bank Group President Ajay Banga and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva signed for the two institutions.
The meetings will take place in October 2029. The UAE last hosted them in Dubai in 2003.
The boards of governors of the two institutions voted in April to hold the 2029 meetings in Abu Dhabi, the World Bank said at the time. The meetings are usually held in Washington for two consecutive years and in a member country every third year.
The Abu Dhabi meetings are expected to bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers, private sector representatives and academics from 191 countries, the UAE daily Al Khaleej reported.
Banga described the UAE as a place where capital flows efficiently. He said that fit the World Bank’s aim of mobilizing private capital alongside public funds in emerging markets.
Georgieva described Abu Dhabi as a city “transforming every single day” and said it was well suited to discussions on navigating rapid global change.
Balama said the selection reflected confidence in the UAE’s economic model and its capacity to convene global financial leaders.
