Turkey Gears Up To Host IMF-World Bank Meetings

• Author: IMF Survey Online

While the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Istanbul are still three months away, officials at the two multilateral lenders are assessing the likely next phase of the crisis and trying to spot signs of recovery.

Turkish officials, from the Central Bank to the Finance and Health Ministries, are part of a planning team arranging and coordinating all the details that go into hosting a meeting of this size and importance, which will be held at Congress Valley, located near the Bosphorus.

"All eyes will be on Istanbul," said Murilo Portugal, Deputy Managing Director at the IMF, on a recent trip to the host country. "The annual meetings are a unique opportunity to discuss issues of great global economic importance, make decisions and provide guidance on the work of the two institutions."

As a key member of the Group of Twenty (G-20) industrialized and emerging market countries, Turkey has not escaped the effects of the global crisis, but the economy has displayed resilience and flexibility.

Unique gathering in Istanbul

The IMF and World Bank annual meetings in October bring together finance ministers, central bankers, and other top officials from 186 countries to discuss the critical issues facing the world economy.

Every three years, the meeting is held outside Washington, D.C., and this will be the second time Turkey will host the gathering. The previous time was in 1955.

The meetings are also a forum for policymakers to meet with civil society organizations and the private sector. The IMF has begun holding informal meetings with these groups and will continue to do so as officials from the Fund travel to Turkey over the next few months.

Turkey and the IMF have already jointly hosted a meeting on public debt, which is at the heart of the public policy debate on eventual exit strategies from the crisis. Senior officials, including Murilo Portugal and IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky, visited Turkey in June as part of the Fund's work to draw attention to the key issues leading up to the discussions in October.

A program of seminars is planned in the days immediately preceding the annual meetings, which will cover a wide range of topics from the best policies to deal with and prevent crises, and the future of the global financial system. Senior IMF officials, leading academics and journalists, and...