OPEC Fund President Abdulhamid Alkhalifa is leading a delegation to the Caribbean Development Bank’s 56th annual meeting in Nassau this week, as the region confronts fiscal strain and climate risks.
The meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), running from 1 to 5 June in The Bahamas, gathers policymakers, multilateral lenders and financial institutions under the theme “Forging the Caribbean’s Future: Strategic Solutions for Uncertain Times” to chart strategies for sustaining growth and attracting investment in a volatile global economy.
Alkhalifa is due to take part in a high level session on how multilateral development banks (MDBs) can adapt their financing to mounting pressures on developing economies, including tighter budgets, climate vulnerability and slower global growth. He joins CDB President Daniel Best and Gisela Sánchez, executive president of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration.
For the OPEC Fund, the meeting is a chance to deepen ties with Caribbean countries and explore partnerships with regional institutions. The Vienna based body has been widening its development financing across emerging markets, with growing focus on climate resilience, food security, energy access and sustainable infrastructure.
Development finance institutions face rising pressure to stretch limited capital as governments grapple with higher borrowing costs and heavy investment needs tied to the energy transition and climate adaptation.
The annual meeting, the CDB’s highest decision making forum, is expected to yield discussions on new financing tools, private sector mobilisation and closer cooperation among multilateral lenders to help vulnerable economies weather an uncertain global outlook.
