The 2021 annual meetings of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be held in a country that defends the principles of openness and multilateralism, namely Morocco, IMF Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, said Sunday in Bali. «Morocco is one of the most hospitable, generous and historically entrenched countries in the world, an African, Arab and oriental country remarkably open to modernity, a country that perfectly illustrates the convergence of the humanitarian values that unite us all», Lagarde said at the official signing ceremony for the 2021 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings to be held in Morocco. She also stressed that the IMF is confident in the capacity and potential of Morocco, a country that stands out with a plural identity and which is open to the world. Morocco is «an incredible point of convergence for all our values - a perfect illustration of tolerance, openness, respect, generosity and hospitality – such qualities that make the Kingdom's legendary fame known to the international community», Lagarde pointed out. The IMF will spare no effort to ensure the success of these meetings, the benefits of which will not fail to be beneficial for the Kingdom which brilliantly managed the organization of the COP22, she added. Last April, Morocco was chosen to host the 2021 edition of the WBG-IMF annual meetings. The Annual Meetings bring together central bankers, ministers of finance and development, private sector executives, civil society, media and academics to discuss issues of global concern, including the world economic outlook, global financial stability, poverty eradication, inclusive economic growth and job creation, climate change, and others. The last time the Annual Meetings were held in Africa was in 1973, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Annual Meetings are usually held for two consecutive years at the WBG and IMF headquarters in Washington, D.C. and every third year in another member country.
