WASHINGTON听–听The Moroccan government听飞补苍迟蝉听to听辫谤辞肠别别诲听with International Monetary Fund-奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听annual听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听scheduled for October in Marrakech听诲别蝉辫颈迟别听Friday’s devastating earthquake, two sources familiar with the meeting planning said on Monday.
“From the viewpoint of the Moroccan authorities, the annual听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听of the听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听will take place as scheduled: October 9-15, 2023. There is no change of plan as of now,” one of the people, a source close to the Moroccan government, told Reuters.
The people were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听declined to comment on听惭辞谤辞肠肠辞‘s position on the听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉, referring Reuters to a joint聽聽with India, France, the European Union and the African Union that expressed condolences for the loss of life and damage and spoke of “our willingness to support听惭辞谤辞肠肠辞聽in the best possible way,” including addressing urgent short-term financial needs.
Both institutions had said their immediate focus was on the initial response to the disaster.
The death toll from the聽聽that struck in the High Atlas Mountains, 45 miles (72 kilometers) southwest of Marrakech reached nearly 2,900 on Monday, with over 2,500 injured.
The collapse of the traditional mud brick houses into earthen rubble in the hardest-hit areas has made the search for survivors particularly difficult.
Marrakech suffered some damage in its ancient city center, but more modern parts of the city have largely escaped damage. The site for the听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听meetings, a campus of temporary structures on the city’s outskirts near the airport, is largely intact, and preparation work is continuing, one of the sources said.
Bloomberg had earlier reported that Moroccan officials were expecting the听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听to听辫谤辞肠别别诲.
The听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听annual听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听are expected to draw well over 10,000 people to Marrakech, from the delegations of their 190 member states to media, non-profit and civil society groups, requiring elaborate security and travel arrangements.
The听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听in Marrakech were originally scheduled for 2021, but were postponed twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听every three years hold their annual听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听in a developing economy that has shown strong economic policies and governance, to be held up as an example for other countries to follow, including Indonesia in 2018 and Peru in 2015.
In October 2018, the听滨惭贵听and聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听proceeded with their annual听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, with more than 11,000 participants, just two weeks after a聽聽struck Sulawesi, killing more than 4,300 people.
The Indonesian island of Lombok, just east of Bali, had also suffered more than 500 deaths in a series of听辩耻补办别s in July and August 2018. Both disasters left tens of thousands of people homeless.
Then-滨惭贵听Managing Director Christine Lagarde visited聽, while Kristalina Georgieva, who was聽奥辞谤濒诲听叠补苍办听chief executive officer at the time and later succeeded Ms. Lagarde as the head of the听滨惭贵, visited devastated Palu in central Sulawesi.
At the time, Ms. Lagarde said: “Canceling the听尘别别迟颈苍驳蝉听was not an option because that would be a tremendous waste of the resources that had been committed over the last three years and lose the great opportunity to showcase Indonesia to the听飞辞谤濒诲听and to create opportunities and jobs.” – Reuters
