Abu Dhabi to host 2029 IMF and World Bank annual meetings

Summary

• The UAE signed an agreement to host the 2029 IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Abu Dhabi.
• The deal was signed in Bangkok as the 2026 annual meetings closed.
• It returns the event to the UAE more than 25 years after Dubai 2003.

The latest

Abu Dhabi will host the 2029 annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, under an agreement signed in Bangkok at the close of this year's gatherings. The UAE Ministry of Finance said in a Sunday statement that the selection reflects growing international confidence in the country's economic and financial system.

Details

• The signatories: Mohamed bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, and Khaled Balama, governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, signed the agreement in the Thai capital with World Bank president Ajay Banga and IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, according to the Ministry of Finance.
• The timing: The summit is scheduled for October 2029. It marks the return of the meetings to the UAE after more than a quarter of a century, following Dubai's hosting in 2003. The ministry did not detail venue arrangements or budget.
• The minister's framing: Al Hussaini said the signing reflects "confidence in the UAE's readiness, the efficiency of its infrastructure and financial system, and its ability to host major international events of strategic importance." He added the event would give global financial leaders a platform to advance monetary stability and development finance.
• The World Bank view: Banga said the UAE has built institutions and infrastructure with a spirit of bold ambition and partnership, cementing its role as a global hub for economic dialogue. He described Abu Dhabi as a fitting host for meetings focused on development impact, jobs, growth and financing at scale.
• The IMF view: Georgieva said the UAE has become an important hub for ideas, finance, innovation and international cooperation. The 2029 meetings, she added, would be an opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead and help shape a better future.
• The scale: Attendance at the annual meetings has kept growing, with more than 10,000 in-person and virtual participants at each edition. The programme includes country group meetings, civil society forums and press conferences with the World Bank president and the IMF managing director.
• Who attends: The meetings bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, policymakers, private sector representatives, civil society, media and academics from more than 190 countries. Both institutions use the platform to release their growth and financial stability outlooks and set out policy direction.
• The rotation rule: The meetings are traditionally held at the two institutions' Washington headquarters, with a member country selected to host every third year. London became the first city outside the United States to host in 1947.
• The regional record: The UAE and Turkey remain the only countries in the Middle East to have hosted the annual meetings, according to the account of the signing. The Ministry of Finance described the UAE as the Arab world's second-largest economy.

Between the lines

The hosting slot is effectively a rotation prize: with only every third year going outside Washington and just two Middle Eastern countries ever selected, Abu Dhabi's 2029 turn carries more institutional weight than the event's logistics alone suggest, placing a 10,000-delegate financial summit in the Gulf.

What's next

Watch for venue, budget and programme details from the UAE Ministry of Finance, and for the IMF and World Bank announcements naming the host of the intervening non-Washington edition before 2029.

Source: The National