His Excellency Mohamed Bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, yesterday participated in the 7th annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries, which was held virtually under the theme ’NDB: Optimizing Development Impact‘,. The meeting sought to discuss NDB’s achievements throughout its first strategy cycles 2017-2021, as well as means of boosting the development impact and consolidating the bank's leading position in supporting infrastructure and sustainable development goals around the world, especially in emerging and developing economies. The Board of Governors also approved NDB’s General Strategy for 2022-2026, which will focus on enhancing the bank’s activities towards SDGs and investing in new emerging markets.

During his intervention, His Excellency Mohamed Bin Hadi Al Hussaini thanked Mr. Marcos Troyjo, President of the New Development Bank (NDB), stressing on the importance of the meeting and its impact on strengthening cooperation among member states to continue supporting and funding infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS, as well as other emerging economies and developing countries. “We are pleased to be here in our first meeting as a member and we look forward to taking part in the upcoming discussions. The UAE is the newest member of the NDB and through our membership, we will aim to complement the Bank’s impressive track record with our commitment to sustainable and inclusive development.”

His Excellency noted that many countries are on the recovery path from the negative implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of the economic and health impacts. However, the uncertainties in the progression of the pandemic and the uneven recovery across countries still pose serious risks to the global economy. His Excellency said: “We are witnessing that the sustainability agenda is being challenged and infrastructure investments are slowing down in several economies due to limited fiscal space. Thus, our continued efforts to fund infrastructure and sustainable development becomes more important than ever”.

His Excellency stressed that the pandemic has left serious disruptions in the global economy, including a high-level and persistent global inflation, in addition to supply-demand mismatches in various markets, including commodities. “We believe ensuring alignment and seeking complementarities with the global sustainable development agenda will enhance our ability to contribute more to the global economy,” His Excellency said.

The New Development Bank was established by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in July 2015. The UAE joined the BRICS New Development Bank based on Cabinet Resolution No. (19) of 2021.

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