Development Minister Hautala to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Bank in Tokyo
Press Release 230/2012
10 October 2012
Minister for International Development Heidi Hautala will attend the Annual Meeting of the World Bank Group in Tokyo on 11–12 October. The central topics of the Annual Meeting are current challenges facing the global economy and their impact on developing countries. While in Tokyo, the minister will also meet with stem cell researcher Shinya Yamanaka, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
The joint World Bank–International Monetary Fund Development Committee will meet in connection with the Annual Meeting. The main theme of this meeting is work and the role of the private sector in promoting development and eliminating poverty. The base for discussion is the report “2013 World Development Report on Jobs” published by the World Bank in early October. The Development Committee will also discuss the implementation of gender equality at the World Bank as well as natural disaster prevention and risk management, on the basis of reports presented to the Committee. Finland participates in cooperation within the World Bank as a member of the Nordic and Baltic voting group. Minister Hautala will take part in the ministerial dialogue on sustainable development, where the theme is the promotion of a green economy.
Finland’s Presidency of the Leading Group on Innovative Financing for Development will be launched in a side event to the Annual Meeting. Minister Hautala will discuss initiatives supplementing public development financing, such as the financial market tax, with, among others, representatives from France, Mali, Germany, Benin and a number of international organisations. The group consists of 63 States, many international organisations and foundations as well as national organisations.
Minister Hautala will also chair the seminar organised by International Save the Children, the theme of which is inequality as a challenge to development policy, particularly from the perspective of development goals after 2015. In addition, Minister Hautala has several bilateral meetings with ministers and World Bank leaders.
While in Tokyo, the minister will also meet with Professor Shinya Yamanaka, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and the Millennium Prize. The meeting will take place at a dinner organised by the Embassy of Finland.
For more information: Senior Advisor Laura Torvinen, mobile tel. +358 40 022 7577, [email protected] (time difference in Tokyo, +6 h); Milma Kettunen, Press Attaché to the Minister, mobile tel. + 358 40 522 9869, [email protected]