http://www.spa.gov.sa/English/details.php?id=492300
*Saudi Finance Minister speaks at World Bank's Committee meeting Washington* *Dr Al-Assaf* hailed the trend of the World Bank to give more attention to the development requirements in the Arab countries including increasing its loan activities in the Arab region. Highlighting the significant role being played by the International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank, he called for exerting further efforts to increase the assistance extended to the poor countries. Dr Al-Assaf stressed the vital role which can be played by the private sector in accelerating the wheel of continuous growth in the developing countries, and urged the World Bank to exert further efforts for supporting the endeavors of the developing countries to enhance the role of the private sector through extending technical and financial support in this respect. He noted the important role being played by the energy supplies in the development process, the growth march and reduction of poverty. Dr Al-Assaf said fossil fuel will remain the cheapest major source of energy and called for exerting efforts to increase the effectiveness of the sources of the fossil fuel and contain the adverse impact on the environment. --SPA [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
