The International Monetary Fund’s International Working Group of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IWG) will convene its second working session in Singapore on 9 and 10 July 2008 to continue deliberations on a set of Generally Accepted Principles and Practices (GAPP) regarding sovereign wealth funds, according to the groups co-chairs.
Hamad al Suwaidi, undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and a director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and Jaime Caruana, counsellor and director of the International Monetary Funds Monetary and Capital Markets Department, stated that the 23-member IWG will utilize the Singapore meeting to build on work that has been undertaken since the IWG was formed on 1 May 2008. An exchange of views will also take place with a group of senior officials from some recipient countries.
“This will be a work session of all IWG members and observers,” they say. “We remain committed to a goal of establishing voluntary principles and practices by October 2008. So far, the work of the group has been promising. We anticipate a very brief communique will be issued at the conclusion of the Singapore meeting, in keeping with our established practice of informing the public about the groups continuing work.”
The GAPP aim to promote a clearer understanding of the institutional framework, governance, and investment operations of SWFs that would support the maintenance of an open and stable investment climate.
The IWG was created with the aim of agreeing on a common set of voluntary principles and practices to help maintain the free flow of cross-border investment and open and stable financial systems. The IWG member countries are: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Botswana, Canada, Chile, China, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Ireland, South Korea, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Trinidad & Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the World Bank participate as permanent observers.