OPEC Fund Annual Report 2023

04 | THE ORGANIZATION – OUR PARTNERS

OUR PARTNERS

Since its inception in 1976, the OPEC Fund has always placed a special emphasis on cooperation. Although comparatively small, the institution has a proud history of mobilizing external resources — as demonstrated last year when partners in the Arab Coordination Group fol- lowed the OPEC Fund’s lead on mobilizing US$50 billion for Africa and a US$10 billion seven-step strategy for climate action. Working together with partner development institutions, governments and the private sector, the OPEC Fund tar- gets key development priorities aligned with the Sustain- able Development Goals (SDGs) through co-financing. Roughly four out of five operations are co-financed. The OPEC Fund’s structure allows it to swiftly respond to urgent challenges and join collaborative efforts, creating synergies, sharing knowledge and extending impactful financing where and when needed. In 2023, the OPEC Fund continued to expand its partnerships by enhancing its strategic and operational cooperation and co-financing public and private sector projects that contribute to sustainable development. The OPEC Fund actively engaged in the discussion about the future development funding architecture and used numerous top level meetings for promoting the South-South perspective. The OPEC Fund’s senior leadership continued to engage with the development community via various platforms including the biannual general meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund in spring and autumn, the annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and joint meetings of Arab financial institutions in Rabat in April.

Senior delegations of the OPEC Fund also attended the annual meetings of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund in October in Marrakech and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Incheon, Republic of Korea, in May. Moreover, the OPEC Fund participated in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai under the presidency of its member country United Arab Emirates. The OPEC Fund had a substantial pres- ence on the ground and signed new agreements with, among others, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ADB, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and was able to welcome the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as partner in clean cooking, the global effort to replace polluting and hazardous cooking practices with clean solutions. Building relationships and raising visibility, the OPEC Fund also hosted its second Development Forum in Vienna in June to discuss pertinent questions of de- velopment with a focus on a South-South perspective. The high-level event attracted prominent participants representing governments, international organizations, multilateral development banks and private sector investors. The Forum is now recognized as a popu- lar meeting place between advanced and developing economies. The past year once again made it necessary to sup- port the resilience of partner countries and provide humanitarian support in emergencies. The OPEC Fund responded to natural disasters such as the earthquakes in Türkiye and Morocco and the floods in Pakistan with express grants in order to support emergency aid.