SPOTLIGHT
“We must rise to the challenge” OPEC Fund announces ambitious expansion plans as it gathers partners for its third Development Forum in Vienna
W ith more than 450 participants from around the world, the third OPEC Fund Development Forum in June attracted the largest turnout in the event’s history. Under the over-arching theme “Driving Resilience & Equity” heads of state, government ministers, representatives of the development community, global business leaders and many other partners met at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna to discuss ways to progress the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The OPEC Fund used the attention to announce a significant expansion of its operations: “In the next six years we will invest over US$20 billion,” President Alkhalifa said in his opening address. “These funds will help to build sustainable infrastructure, strengthen institutions, develop human capital and support the private sector.” The President explained the urgent necessity of the move, warning that “the achievement of the SDGs by 2030 is in peril.” In certain areas progress is being rolled back, in others it is stalling. “The numbers are sobering,” he cautioned, citing food insecurity, the infrastructure financing gap and the impacts of climate change among the most urgent challenges. These “require a coordinated and e ff ective response and we must rise to the challenge.” For the OPEC Fund the envisaged expansion represents a shift into a higher gear. The US$20 billion announcement “is almost as much as we have deployed in our entire 48 year history,” the President said. Given that the SDG financing gap is currently estimated at US$3.9 trillion annually, the President
Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, President, OPEC Fund, addressing delegates at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna
Photo: OPEC Fund
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