Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

UAE backs Qatar in hosting 2026 World Bank and IMF meetings

By Pramod Kumar
Reuters/Abacapress.com/Eliot Blondet
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan pledged support for Qatar's bid to host the meetings

The UAE will support Qatar as a potential host for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings in 2026 after withdrawing its own bid.

The decision came during a phone call between UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, state news agency WAM reported.

In the phone call, Sheikh Mohammed pledged the UAE’s support for Qatar’s bid to host the meetings.

The two leaders also “explored areas for further collaboration”, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt ended the over three year embargo on ties with Qatar in early 2021.

Relations between Abu Dhabi and Doha have warmed in recent months with Sheikh Mohammed visiting Qatar during the Fifa World Cup in December 2022.

Last month Bahrain and Qatar held the first round of bilateral talks to resume diplomatic relations. Abu Dhabi, similar to Manama, has not appointed an envoy to Doha, but has resumed travel and trade links with Qatar.

Latest articles

STC wants to consolidate the mobile tower market

STC approves PIF purchase of telecom company

Shareholders of Saudi telecom giant STC have approved plans to create a new telecommunications infrastructure company in which the Public Investment Fund will have a 51 percent stake valued at SAR8.7 billion ($2.3 billion).  Under the deal, the STC-owned Telecommunication Towers Co. Limited (Tawal) will become a PIF subsidiary through a merger with Golden Lattice […]

Flavio Cattaneo of Enel, of which Endesa is a subsidiary, and Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi at the signing of the deal

Masdar buys stake in Spanish utilities company Endesa

The UAE’s state-owned clean energy company Masdar has agreed to acquire a minority stake in Spanish electric utility business Endesa to partner for 2.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy assets in Spain. Under the agreement, subject to regulatory approval, Masdar will invest nearly $890 million to acquire a 49.99 percent stake in Endesa, with an […]

UAE markets Hong Kong

UAE capital markets partner with Hong Kong exchange

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) has added the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) to its roster of recognised marketplaces. The move opens the door for UAE-based companies to pursue secondary listings on one of Asia’s premier financial markets. It also follows the inclusion of the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Aramco and PIF invest in Saudi-Chinese steel venture

Saudi Aramco and the Public Investment Fund have doubled their investment in a steel plate joint venture with a Chinese company to $500 million. The two Saudi companies each own 25 percent shares in the new venture in Ras Al Khair industrial city, Bloomberg reported, quoting a statement published on the Chinese stock exchange. Chinese […]