INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
and WORLD BANK GROUP 2000 Spring Meetings APRIL 11–17 WASHINGTON, D.C. |
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The Spring Meetings and related events of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group will be held in Washington, D.C. , April 12-17, 2000. The main official events and press conferences schedule will be regularly updated on a joint Spring Meetings website of the IMF and World Bank Group. The Press Room at IMF Headquarters, 700 19th St. NW, will open at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 12. Technicians for financial news wires, and other accredited news organizations, can gain access to the press room, starting at 9 a.m. on April 11 through special arrangements with the IMF Media Relations Division. Press Accreditation and Registration By facsimile: [1] (202) 623-4100 To be accredited, you must hold valid press credentials. Journalists in the Washington area must have press credentials issued by either the White House, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, or the U.S. Department of Defense. Please give your credential details on the accreditation form. Journalists based elsewhere should submit either: 1) a copy of press credentials issued by national or local authorities, or by a professional association of journalists; or 2) an assignment letter from their Editor, along with a copy of the publication, where applicable. Freelance journalists will not be accredited unless they have a valid assignment letter from an accredited news organization, or publication. Non-governmental organizations can secure one, non-transferable NGO Press badge per organization provided the person securing the accreditation is a bona fide staff member of a publication produced by that organization. The publication must have a circulation beyond the NGO's internal staff and membership. Evidence supporting this verification is required when the application is submitted. Requests for accreditation are accepted unless the applicant cannot show he or she is a journalist, or the application is incomplete. Unless you are informed otherwise, you can assume your accreditation is in order. If you have questions about your accreditation, please contact William Murray of the IMF's Media Relations Division at (202) 623-7100 or by email at wmurray@imf.org. Press Accreditation Closes April 15 Journalists who have applied for accreditation can pick up credentials for the Meetings starting from 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 11, at the press registration desk located inside the IMF Visitors Center entrance of IMF headquarters, which is near the corner of H and 19th Streets NW, Washington, D.C. You must come in person to register and present press credentials bearing a photograph. The press registration desk will operate between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily through Saturday, April 15. After April 15, journalists and NGO Press who have not picked up their credentials will be denied access to the Spring Meetings. The Meetings' credential grants access to the Press Room, press conferences and briefings in IMF Headquarters, as well as at the World Bank Group. Due to public announcements regarding planned protests and potential disruptions of the Spring Meetings, security will be heightened. The heightened security could also mean significant delays in gaining access to press briefings and other events. Accredited journalists, photographers and camera crews should be prepared to build security checks into their schedules. We strongly urge you to apply for accreditation before the Meetings, because you may face lengthy delays or be denied access if you apply for accreditation once the Meetings are underway. Journalists, TV camera crews, and photographers who do not have any of the press identification described above may be subject to delay in accreditation, or be denied access to the Meetings. Press Room and Communications Arrangements The Press Room at IMF headquarters, Red Level, will operate from Wednesday, April 12, through Monday, April 17. It will have 177 work spaces available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each desk will be equipped with power outlets and a telephone from which local calls can be made free of charge. Long-distance calls may be placed collect, or through telephone credit cards. Journalists will also be able to purchase telephone cards on site for direct-dial long-distance calls. Press Room telephones can be used for data transmission via laptop. Self-service facsimile machines will be available in the Press Room, although use will require a major credit card. Four Internet kiosks will also be available in the Press Rooms. However, e-mail service will not be provided, and journalists should arrange for email service via their own personal computers. The Internet kiosks allow easy access to the IMF website (http://www.imf.org) and the World Bank Group website (http://www.worldbank.org). The websites will have links to a joint Spring Meetings' site containing the evolving schedule of press events, as well as transcripts, news releases, and other information as it becomes available. Interview Requests The IMF and World Bank media relations divisions handle requests for interviews with IMF and World Bank officials during the Meetings. However, the press officers do not service interview requests for official delegations to the Meetings. Those requests must be made directly to the delegations. TV and Still Photo Pools There will be brief photographic sessions at the start of ministerial meetings, which will be pooled by TV and still photographers. Estimated times for the staging of the pools are listed in the tentative schedule of events contained in this booklet. Kathleen White of the IMF Media Relations Division and Cynthia McMahon of the World Bank Media Relations Division will be organizing the press pools during the Meetings. The main staging area for the G-24, G-10 and IMFC pools will be inside the entrance of the IMF Visitors Center, which is located at the corner of H and 19th streets. The staging area for the Development Committee pool will be inside the entrance of the World Bank Group's Main Complex, 1818 H St. NW. Camera crews and photographers must be accredited ahead of the pools. As well, crews and photographers should allow at least 15 minutes prior to each pool staging to enable security to clear their equipment at the main entrances. Camera crews and still photographers should be reminded that press accreditation closes at 6:00 p.m. on April 15. Press accreditation will not be possible after April 15. Though the size and composition of pools may vary, the IMF and World Bank typically limit pools to three still photographers and two cameras. Pool participants must be willing to share video feeds and photographs with other media outlets. A media advisory will also be issued in the Press Room, and faxed to media daybooks, 24 hours prior to the first pool event. Hotels Journalists are responsible for making their own hotel arrangements. Official and Press Events The Spring Meetings offer a number of official and press events that are of interest to reporters. The primary events are: The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the Board of Governors, Sunday, April 16. The Committee was established on September 30, 1999 to advise the Board of Governors of the IMF on supervising the management and adaptation of the international monetary system as well as dealing with disturbances that might threaten the system. The Committee, whose members are Governors of the IMF, Ministers, or other persons of comparable rank, reflects the composition of the IMF's Executive Board. Each member country that appoints, and each group that elects, an Executive Director, appoints a member to the Committee, which currently has 24 members. A number of international organizations, including the World Bank, participate in the Committee meeting as observers. The Committee's members are: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Development Committee, known officially as the Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the Fund on the Transfer of Real Resources to Developing Countries, Monday, April 17. The Committee was established in October 1974. It consists of 24 members, generally Ministers of Finance, who are appointed to two-year terms by one of the countries, or groups of countries, that designate a member to the Bank's or the IMF's Board of Executive Directors. The Committee advises and reports to the Boards of Governors of the Bank and the IMF on all aspects of the broad question of the transfer of real resources to developing countries, and makes suggestions for their implementation. The Committee's members are: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Côte d'Ivoire, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. A number of international organizations participate as observers. The Group of 24 Ministers, which is known officially as the Intergovernmental Group of 24 on International Monetary Affairs, Saturday, April 15. The Group was formed at the 1972 Lima meeting of the Group of 77 to represent the interests of the developing countries in negotiations on international monetary matters. It is not an organ of the IMF. However, the IMF provides secretariat services for the Group, whose meetings usually take place in conjunction with those of the International Monetary and Financial and Development Committees. The Group comprises members from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The Group's members are: Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lebanon, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Syrian Arab Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago. A number of developing countries attend sessions as observers. The Group of 10 Ministers, Sunday, April 16. The Group was formed in 1962 in conjunction with the establishment of the General Arrangements to Borrow (GAB), under which the Governments of nine members--Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States--and the central banks of two others--Germany and Sweden--make resources available to the IMF for drawings by participants. Under certain circumstances, the governments and central banks finance drawings by non-participants. Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Group of Seven major industrial countries generally hold a meeting in Washington, D.C., at the time of the Spring Meetings. The members are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The press conferences of World Bank Group President James D. Wolfensohn, on April 12, and of the IMF Managing Director, on April 13, are an opportunity for journalists to ask about issues of current interest in the world economy, and the work of the World Bank Group and the IMF. The World Economic Outlook (WEO) press conference on April 12 is led by IMF Economic Counsellor and Research Department Director Michael Mussa and is devoted to the latest issue of the WEO. Published typically twice a year, the WEO contains projections and analysis that are an integral part of the IMF's surveillance of economic developments, policies in its member countries and of the global economic system. Copies of the IMF's WEO will be available on a strict embargo basis to the press shortly before the report's scheduled release. Embargoed copies can be secured electronically by sending a formal e-mail request to William Murray (e-mail: wmurray@imf.org) of the IMF Media Relations Division. The WEO documents, together with the contents of the press conference, will be under strict embargo until 10:30 a.m. Washington time on April 12. The World Development Indicators (WDI) and World Bank Atlas press conference will present statistics on all aspects of development. Copies of the World Bank's WDI and the Atlas will be available approximately 24 hours in advance of the embargoed release, which is 3:00 p.m., Monday, April 17. Contact Information
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