NDB board to meet in Cape Town

THE New Development Bank (NDB) and the South African government will host the fourth annual meeting of the NDB Board of Governors in Cape Town next month.

The meeting will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on April 1 and 2, under the theme, “Partnership for Sustainable Development”.

The NDB said that fair and sustainable development was a key focus of the global development agenda.

An important aspect of this agenda was creating infrastructure for ensuring sustainable development and shared prosperity, as also recognised by the BRICS leaders at their summit last year.

“This need is all the more pressing in emerging markets and developing countries.

“While opening up new economic opportunities and swiftly changing the landscape for projecting future infrastructure, consideration also needs to be given to the rapid technological advances which are disrupting conventional ways of thinking,” the bank said.

“These advances will have a material impact on the development of infrastructure, for it has to not only cater for the needs of today but for several decades in the future. Multilateral development banks have been playing an important role in mobilising finance to meet this demand, but it is also recognised that there still exists a wide financing deficit.”

The BRICS countries are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The meeting is expected to bring together ministers from BRICS member countries, who are the governors of the NDB, as well as other national and local government representatives, leaders of multilateral and national development institutions, distinguished scholars, and prominent commercial bankers, among others. |