Job creation, climate change, investment in children’s early development, and the role of parliamentarians in meeting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were among the many items on the agenda.

During the conference, the parliamentarians were given the opportunity to ask questions directly to Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, and Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank.

Hans Olav Syversen (Christian Democratic Party) believes it is more important than ever for Norway to be an active supporter of multilateral institutions and international cooperation. He took the opportunity to ask Ms Lagarde the following question: “What are the greatest challenges facing the world economy in the light of increasing protectionism? And what do you see as the root causes of the growth in protectionism? Could it be because only the minority benefit from globalization?

In her reply, Ms Lagarde made the point that globalization has lifted millions out of poverty, especially in developing countries. At the same time, she acknowledged that many in more prosperous countries have lost their jobs as a result of developments in technology and companies relocating abroad. She stressed that the IMF aims to support heads of state in creating the kind of inclusive growth that will help those who have lost out to globalization. However, she believes that isolationism and protectionism will only do more harm to the economy.

Norway is a major contributor

Norway is one of the largest contributors to the World Bank’s various development projects, which administer a considerable proportion of Norway’s international development funding. Elin Agdestein (Conservative Party) believes that one important reason for the Storting to take part in such a conference is to gain an overview of how the World Bank and the IMF manage Norway’s contributions.

“We’re talking here about huge sums of money, particularly in the fields of equality, health and education; major priorities in Norwegian international development policy. In May, the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee is going to deal with a white paper on the UN’s SDGs and Norwegian international development policy. This will lay out Norwegian perspectives on the global processes that the World Bank is at the forefront of,” Ms Agdestein said.

“It’s very reassuring that both the World Bank and the IMF are putting job creation for young people so high up the agenda” commented Kåre Simensen (Labour Party).

“One of the greatest challenges for economic development is that so many young people are out of work. This is not only the case in developing countries, but was also a major factor in the economic crisis in Southern Europe. Those affected are often highly educated young people, but they still don’t have a job to wake up to. The key to inclusive growth and increased productivity lies in job creation for young people and active policies to get more women into the labour market,” Mr Simensen added.

Participants from 67 nations

Almost 160 parliamentarians from 67 different countries took part in the conference, during which several workshops and discussions were chaired by the delegates themselves. Mr Syversen presided over a session on the topic of the various different methods used by the IMF to follow up individual countries.

While in Washington DC, the Norwegian MPs met both the World Bank’s Nordic-Baltic board member and an adviser to the board of the IMF on areas of Nordic priority, including the climate, equality, better tax systems and vulnerable states. They also met Kåre Aas, Norway’s ambassador to the USA, to learn more about the most recent developments in American politics.

Spring meeting                                                     

The World Bank and the IMF invite parliamentarians from all member nations to an annual conference. This is followed by the spring meeting, where representatives from the member states’ governments take part. This year’s spring meeting took place on 21^st to 23^rd April.

Norway’s representatives included Siv Jensen, Minister of Finance; Tone Skogen, a state secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Øystein Olsen, the Governor of the Central Bank of Norway and Norway’s member on the IMF’s board of governors. At the spring meeting, Mr Olsen was due to sign a renewed bilateral agreement with the IMF regarding a voluntary contribution of 70 billion Norwegian kroner, an agreement that was adopted by the Storting in February this year.