The Arab Monetary Fund, AMF, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the sidelines of IMF-World Bank annual meetings.

The MoU aims to strengthen the ongoing cooperation between the two institutions and to provide a comprehensive framework for the provision of technical advice and capacity building in the Arab countries in the fields of financial development and stability, business climate, corporate governance and investment policies, among others.

The MoU was signed by Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, AMF Director-General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, and Angel Gurria, OECD Secretary-General.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Al Hamidy said, "The signing of the MoU will certainly deepen our collaboration and provide a great platform for consultation and join work in providing technical assistance to our member countries and support their efforts in reaching sustainable development across all Arab countries. Supporting capacity development in the Arab region has always been among our top priorities, and we look forward to pursuing and intensifying this effort to better tackle the needs of our member countries. Our ongoing cooperation with OECD has always been successful and we are glad that today it’s being reinforced and strengthened to better serve the needs of the Arab region."

The OECD Secretary-General underlined that for more than a decade now, the OECD has been working with the MENA region, helping its governments and institutions design effective reforms through the MENA-OECD Initiative on Governance and Competitiveness.

He added, "Through this initiative, we are promoting broad reforms to enhance the investment climate, modernise governance structures and operations, strengthen regional and international partnerships, and promote sustainable economic development throughout the region. The emerging partnership between the OECD and the Arab Monetary Fund is very important as it helps to support reforms focused on long-term inclusive growth and better policies for the Arab countries."

AMF is a regional Arab financial institution, founded in 1976, and started operations in 1977, with a mission to lay the monetary foundation of Arab economic integration and to accelerate the process of economic development of its member countries, through providing training and capacity building in topics of interest.

The OECD is an intergovernmental organisation, the purpose of which is to bring together countries committed to supporting sustainable economic growth, boosting employment, raising living standards, maintaining financial stability and thus contributing to sound economic expansion and development in Member countries and in non-member economies. Since 2005, the OECD works with governments of the Middle East and North Africa region through the MENA-OECD Initiative on Governance and Competitiveness for Development.