In October 1994, at the Casablanca Economic summit, Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the PLO proposed the creation of a Middle East Development Bank. This set the stage for meetings of experts to study the feasibility of such an institution. A task force was formed and held meetings in January and again in March. All agreed on the need for such an institution, but views differed on its financing, location, staffing and policy. The March meeting was summed up in the following statement by Undersecretary Spero.
Financial and foreign affairs officials from thirty regional and extraregional parties attended the first meeting of the task force on financing institutions for economic development in the Middle East and North Africa in Washington, March 8-9.
These discussions are a key part of the multilateral effort to support the Middle East peace process.
Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the PLO made joint and individual presentations in support of their October 1994 proposal for a new regional bank for economic cooperation and development. They also emphasized their commitment to promote regional economic cooperation and development of a strong private sector, which will improve the daily lives of the people of the region.
As agreed at the January 10-11 experts meeting, the task force reviewed detailed proposals for new institutional arrangements. There was an initial discussion on a detailed proposal for a bank for economic cooperation and development in the Middle East and North Africa, including an integrally related economic policy dialogue forum. The discussions covered issues concerning the bank's proposed mandate, membership, eligibility for borrowing, relationship to other financial and policy institutions, operational functions and capital requirements.
The task force also discussed a proposal for a Middle East and North Africa financial intermediation organization. The organization would have important functions in the areas of political cooperation, economic coordination and resource mobilization. Discussions cover its proposed functions, scope of work, institutional structure and governance. The discussions were held in a collaborative spirit and resulted in a significant convergence of views on many subjects, with many participants emphasizing the significant degree of complementarity among the ideas put forward.
Participants believe they are on track to produce detailed recommendations for political-level decisions on new institutional arrangements by the Amman Economic Summit in October 1995. They particularly welcomed the offer of Jordan to host the next task force meeting in Amman on April 2, 1995 and the task force will continue to meet approximately monthly.