IMF-led seminar discusses economic challenges, policy choices for MENA

IMF-led seminar discusses economic challenges, policy choices for MENA

By Majd Othman

KUWAIT: The IMF-Middle East Center for Economics and Finance (CEF) in Kuwait in collaboration with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) organized a high-level seminar on ‘Economic Challenges and Policy Choices for the MENA region on Monday. The event was held in hybrid mode in which some participants attended in-person at the AFESD’s headquarters in Kuwait while others joined virtually from other countries in the region and from the IMF headquarters in Washington, DC.

The panel discussion was chaired and moderated by Paulo Drummond, Director of the IMF-Middle East Center for Economics and Finance. He said the event was aimed at stimulating an open debate on the evolving economic challenges and policy tradeoffs faced by policymakers in Arab countries. The keynote speaker was Masood Ahmed, president of the Center for Global Development in Washington, DC. Panelists included ZeineZeidane, Deputy Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, Karen Young, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University, Mohamed Lahouel, Chief Economist at the Department of Economic Development in Dubai, and Ibrahim Elbadawi, Managing Director of the Economic Research Forum.

In his capacity as the event moderator, Drummond emphasized the importance of thoroughly understanding the global economic context