Saudi, UAE pledge $100M to Ivanka fund

riyadh — Saudi Arabia and the UAE have pledged $100 million to a women’s business fund supported by Ivanka Trump, daughter of the president who on Monday wound up a visit to Riyadh.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim announced the donation from both Gulf states on Sunday, during a meeting between Ivanka Trump and a group of Saudi women, a member of the US delegation said.

This is really a stunning achievement. I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly Jim Yong Kim, World Bank president

The idea of a fund providing microfinance to women in underdeveloped countries was floated by President Donald Trump’s daughter and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a conference in Berlin last month.

Kim said the donation along with other pledges from the United States and other countries will allow the World Bank to announce the creation of a $1-billion fund for women empowerment during the G-20 summit in July. “This is really a stunning achievement. I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly,” he commented, according to the source. — AFP