IMF in-person meetings return with a daunting agenda
As the IMF-World Bank annual summit returns to being fully in-person there may never have been a more important time for global financial leaders to collaborate closely
In the period 2020-21, video meeting fatigue replaced jet lag as a minor ailment of the busy executive, as the commercial world adapted to virtual meetings during lockdowns. This month, I travelled westwards through seven time zones to attend the annual IMF-World Bank summit in Washington DC in the USA, being held fully in person for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. I have also attended events at the annual membership meeting of the Institute of International Finance, taking place in Washington in the same week.
The economic world faces a daunting array of challenging problems, with geopolitics and social and environmental pressures often intertwined. This is reflected in an agenda that is humanitarian as well as technocratic. Conference sessions at both events cover subjects such as inclusion and sustainability, as well as inflation and debt restructuring.
As a regular delegate – I have been attending these meetings annually for the past ten years as a Senior Banker, what do I see as the aspirations and practical benefits? And what are the advantages of attending the meetings in person?
I can identify three principal benefits:
- Educational – being informed by the highly accomplished panel of speakers. You may learn about a new technology and its application, or a new financial instrument, as well as gaining insights from leading policy-makers.
- Relationship health-checks – reaffirming established working friendships. The IMF and IIF meetings offer a rare opportunity for senior executives of global banks to be gathered in one place, enabling you to strengthen or renew key strategic relationships.
- Networking – the opportunity for making new connections, and potential business opportunities that may follow. There isn’t the time to negotiate a deal during the week itself, but there may be an idea with potential on which you can follow up later – for example, increasing business in trade finance, or issuing bonds in a new market.
While attending a conference via a video link can substitute well for the educational purposes, it is very much second best for the other two. For all that we live in a world guided by data and analytics, they can never replace the timeless human quality of trust. In banking, this is paramount. For example, there may be a political crisis and an emergency requirement for liquidity. In this situation, it helps if the senior individual at a global investment bank you need to call for a loan is a close contact. It means you can negotiate from a position of trust, based on a long-standing professional relationship. Trust is not a nebulous issue; while good inter-personal dynamics help, ultimately it is rooted in credibility – both of the individual and the organization that they represent.
During the IMF and IIF conferences, you are in meetings for almost all of your waking hours. There are breakfast meetings, there are evening receptions, including our own as part of the Qatari banking industry. There are meetings over coffee and lunch throughout the day. It can be exhausting, yet also intellectually and commercially rewarding.
Given the mounting pressures of cost-of-living crises around the world, military conflicts and environmental pressures, there has never been a more appropriate time for global financial leaders to work closely together to produce effective responses. Among the emerging crises being addressed in Washington is the problem of affordability of government debt in emerging economies, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and the rise in interest rates. I will address these inter-related issues in my next article.