Join us, in Marrekech or virtually, for a series of discussions alongside the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings. CGD President Masood Ahmed will host a range of experts, multilateral development bank presidents, and shareholder representatives to discuss how we reform and strengthen the international financial architecture.
Strengthening International Cooperation in a Fragmenting Global Economy
October 10, 2:00-3:30 p.m. GMT+1
Co-hosted by CGD, the International Finance Forum (IFF), and the Bretton Woods Committee
After decades of globalization, the last few years have witnessed a seismic shift in global economic relations. Geopolitical tensions, including those emanating from the war in Ukraine, have led to the rise of fragmentation. At the same time, global challenges, such as climate change, income inequality, debt burdens, and slow growth, are more widespread and deeper than ever. In many ways, multilateralism is more at risk than perhaps any time since the inception of the current international system and the Bretton Woods institutions some 80 years ago. Given this challenging context, any sustainable solution requires global cooperation. What can be done to reinvigorate international cooperation and create a path to a more “pragmatic multilateralism” for the new era?
Featuring: Sir Danny Alexander, Kristalina Georgieva, Bo Li, Vera Songwe, Axel Weber, and Martin Wolf
Marrakech Economic Festival
October 11–15, various times GMT+1
Co-hosted by CGD, the Policy Center for the New South, and the Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee
The current times of uncertainty, of economic disruptions, of environmental emergency, but also of geopolitics crisis, have led to a fragmented and changing world in which the dynamics we have known for years has now drastically changed, becoming more fragmented, more tensed, more on the edge, and more under stress. Alongside the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, this new festival will host a rich variety of important programming, with multiple sessions and book talks held during the week of the Annual Meetings. CGD will co-host three of the festival's programs, focusing on the topics of development finance, climate finance, and the future landscape of globalization.
Featuring: Niels Annen, Niale Kaba, Kalpana Kocchar, Hanan Morsy, Avinash Persaud, Remy Rioux, Mattia Romani, Daouda Sembene, Vera Songwe, Mark Suzman, Rama Yade, and more
Strengthening Multilateral Development Banks: The Triple Agenda
October 13, 9:00-10:30 a.m. GMT+1
Co-hosted by CGD, the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
This event marks the public launch of the reports of the G20 Independent Expert Group (IEG) on strengthening multilateral development banks (MDBs), appointed under the India G20 Presidency. The IEG recommends a triple agenda to harness the potential of MDBs: (i) adopting a triple mandate of eliminating extreme poverty, boosting shared prosperity and contributing to global public goods; (ii) tripling sustainable lending levels by 2030; and (iii) creating a third funding mechanism which would permit flexible and innovative arrangements for purposefully engaging with investors who are willing to support elements of the MDB agenda. To achieve these objectives, MDBs have to become better, bolder, and bigger institutions by undergoing reform in key areas.
Featuring: Deepak Mishra, Sara Pantuliano, Vera Songwe, and more
MDB Evolution: How to Make MDBs Work as a System
October 13, 5:00-6:30 p.m. GMT+1
Co-hosted by CGD, the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), and the German Development Ministry (BMZ)
How can the multilateral development banks (MDBs) evolve to meet growing global crises? Amid increasing debt, climate change, and the threat of future pandemics, MDBs must come together to work as a system to address mounting challenges. At present, the MDBs are each set up with their own mandates, governance, and priorities. While these diverse structures come with their own merits—such as greater innovation, efficiency, and new forms of capital—achieving the MDBs’ ambitious objective helping countries transform their economies requires better coordination. Watch the recording of this high-level panel discussion on how the MDBs can work together better to advance the provision and protection of global and regional public goods and improve development outcomes.
Featuring: Anshula Kant, Svenja Schulze, Nirmala Sitharaman, Jordan Schwartz, Swazi Thabalala, and Woochong Um