FM Sitharaman to start US, Mexico visit from today; IMF, WB meets on agenda

The finance minister will also take part in G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings, in addition to bilateral meetings with various countries and organisations

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank during her 10-day official visit to the US and Mexico, which begins on Wednesday.

FM will also take part in G20 Finance Ministers & Central Bank Governors meetings, besides bilateral meetings with many countries and organisations during the October 16 to 26 visit.

On the official leg of her maiden visit to Mexico from October 17 to 20, Sitharaman will chair the Tech Leaders Roundtable that will bring together global technology leaders, including major Indian IT giants present in Guadalajara. The finance ministry said that the FM will visit the TCS headquarters in Guadalajara — “a significant contributor to the Mexican IT ecosystem and known as the ‘Silicon Valley’ of Mexico with a significant presence of major global IT and tech companies.”

In the course of her two-city visit to New York City and Washington D.C in the US, Sitharaman will take part in bilateral meetings with several countries, including United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Germany, besides holding one-on-one meetings with heads of World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and CEOs of banking and financial institutions.

The finance minister will participate in the Pension Funds Roundtable at New York Stock Exchange; interact with students and faculty at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and also at the Columbia University; and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable (GSDR) and take part in discussions organised by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

FM is also slated to take part in a high-level event by the World Bank Group to discuss ‘From Idea to Implementation: New Financial Solutions to Accelerate Development’.

In Mexico, Sitharaman is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with her counterpart Rogelio Ramirez de la O, Minister of Finance and Public Credit of Mexico. The Finance Minister will also hold discussions with several members of the Mexican Parliament to strengthen parliamentary cooperation and foster economic development.