Brussels, 22 October 2024
This week, Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, and Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, will travel to Washington, D.C to attend the World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2024 Annual Meetings.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Gentiloni will take part in the Sixth Ukraine Ministerial Roundtable.
On Thursday, he will participate in a G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting. He will also sign an agreement with the President of the European Investment Bank for the “112 emergency number” project in Ukraine, in the presence of Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. Later that day, the Commissioner will speak at the Washington D.C. Economic Festival on the topic of European competitiveness. He will then attend the G20 Joint Climate-Finance Ministerial meeting.
On Friday, Commissioner Gentiloni will take part in IMF meetings focusing on the global policy agenda and challenges, and in a meeting of G7 Finance Ministers regarding support for Ukraine, artificial intelligence and international taxation.
On the same day, Commissioner Urpilainen will take stock with European Development Finance Institutions of cooperation under Global Gateway. She will then sign a €71.1 million EU guarantee with IFU, the Danish investment fund, to support investments in developing countries in green energy and infrastructure, healthcare and sustainable food systems. She will also take part in a fireside chat with the Atlantic Council and deliver a speech on child nutrition at a WBG event. She will then participate in the Development Committee Plenary on ‘A Future-Ready WBG’.
Commissioner Urpilainen will also sign with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva a €15 million EU contribution to the Global Public Finance Partnership supporting public finance management and €8 million for the IMF-EU Public Finance Management-Partnership Programme to improve spending policies to achieve the SDGs. Later on, she will sign together with the African Union (AU) Commission Director for Partnerships, Steve Lalande, the €1.5 million AU component of the Regional Teachers Initiative for Africa. She will then hold a trilateral meeting with the World Bank Managing Director for operations, Anna Bjerde, and the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed, on gender-based violence.
On Saturday, Commissioner Gentiloni will attend the third G7 – Africa Ministerial Roundtable.