Riyadh, Oct. 03, 2022, SPA -- Minister of Finance Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today in Riyadh with the Director General of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva, to establish an IMF regional office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The MOU focuses on maintaining cooperation between the IMF and the GCC countries, and benefiting from the MOU's recommendations, in addition to the Fund's engagement with regional institutions, strengthening relations with the regional governments, and expanding the scope of the Fund's activities in capacity development. At a press conference following the signing of the agreement, Al-Jadaan said that the GCC meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors discussed with the IMF all developments and processes that contribute to strengthening relations between them to improve the economies of the GCC countries as well as other countries, in addition to the importance of maintaining the continuation of structural reforms and achieving high economic growth rates despite the economic crises the world is going through. For her part, IMF Director congratulated the Kingdom on the progress it has achieved in implementing the reform plan within the Kingdom's Vision 2030, especially the rate of women's participation in the labor sector over the past four years, expecting that the Kingdom will be one of the fastest growing economies in the world this year. --SPA 23:05 LOCAL TIME 20:05 GMT 0041 www.spa.gov.sa/w1793302