Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) CEO Zhongjing Wang and staff met senior government officials and representatives from International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and other stakeholders alongside the 2024 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Annual Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on 22-26 September. The discussions built a foundation for greater collaboration to promote high-quality cross-border connectivity.
The MCDF delegation consulted with delegation heads and senior staff of a cross-section of MCDF donor countries. They included H.E. Mr. Ahmed Kouchouk, Finance Minister of Egypt; H.E. Mr. Márton Bókay, Deputy State Secretary for National Development Financing, Hungary; H.E. Mr. Thakkar Al-Otaibi, Director, Funds and International Development Banks Department, Ministry of Finance, Saudi Arabia and Chair, 2024 MCDF Governing Committee; and H.E. Mr. Pen Thirong, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Cambodia.
MCDF also met with H.E. Mr. Sultan Rahimzoda, Chairman, Tajikistan’s State Committee for Investment and State Property Management; H.E. Mr. Ruslan Tatikov, Vice Finance Minister, Kyrgyz Republic; and H.E. Mr. Yusuf Abdulla Alhumood, Undersecretary for Financial Affairs, Ministry of Finance and National Economy, Bahrain; officials from Croatia, Italy, and Viet Nam; Mr. Ignacio Coriazzoli, Manager, Resource Mobilization and Global Alliances, Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and Chair, 2025 MCDF Coordination Committee; Mr. Kabir Jurazoda, Director, Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Institute; and representatives from AIIB, the Islamic Development Bank, National Capital Fund of Hungary; and Fonplata.
CEO Wang thanked meeting participants for their support of MCDF and briefed them on MCDF’s progress. He noted that MCDF has provided 33 grants to fund project preparation, capacity building, and information sharing in the transport, energy, telecommunications, and water sectors, with an approved amount of USD38.3 million. It is projected to mobilize USD7.2 billion in infrastructure investment across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.
CEO Wang welcomed enhanced partnerships with AIIB members and other stakeholders to further accelerate MCDF’s grant support and broader efforts to promote the application of IFI standards and best practices vital to high-quality connectivity projects. Among the focus areas include public-private partnership “hot topics,” anticorruption, investment facilitation, climate-smart connectivity infrastructure, debt sustainability, procurement, and environmental and social safeguards.
They also include MCDF and partners’ work on a new series of flagship research reports that will provide a deep dive look at the direction of connectivity in Central and West Asia and Southeast Asia, to be followed by companion reports covering Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. Opportunities to participate in JIGSAW, MCDF’s growing digital tool to promote high-quality connectivity investment, were highlighted as well.
CEO Wang additionally briefed meeting participants on MCDF’s planned independent evaluation and discussions on the future direction of MCDF and its activities. These will be examined in more depth during the hybrid MCDF Coordination Committee meeting in Beijing and MCDF Governing Committee meeting and retreat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December.
“Thanks to the guidance and support of AIIB members and other stakeholders, MCDF continues to optimize its capacity to promote high-quality connectivity project financing and development,” said CEO Wang. “The needs and insights of current and emerging partners will remain MCDF’s north star,” he concluded.
Contact
David Hendrickson
Senior Communications Officer
Mobile: +86 185 0114 6758
david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
