UAE withdraws bid for hosting 2026 World Bank-IMF meetings, backs Qatar’s bid instead

In a promising gesture of improving relations between Gulf neighbors, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has decided to withdraw its bid to host the 2026 World Bank and International Monetary Fund meeting. Instead, the UAE will support Qatar as a potential host, as announced by the office of Qatar’s emir and the UAE’s state news agency. This move marks yet another positive step in the thawing of tensions between the two nations.

According to statements from the state news agency WAM and the Amiri Diwan, the decision was made during a phone call between UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.

During a phone conversation on Sunday, Sheikh Mohammed expressed the UAE’s backing for Qatar’s efforts to host the meetings, as per a statement from WAM. He also extended his well wishes to the Emir and the people of Qatar for a successful hosting of the global gathering.

The two leaders also “explored areas for further collaboration”, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in early 2021 ended a three-and-a-half year embargo on ties with Qatar, but relations between Doha and Abu Dhabi had not warmed up at the same pace as those with Riyadh and Cairo, which re-established diplomatic ties with Doha.

The political dispute that had seen Riyadh and its allies sever all ties with Qatar – citing its alleged support for “Islamist groups” that they deem a threat to Gulf dynastic rule and its ties with rivals Iran and Turkey – had shattered the six-nation Gulf bloc. Qatar strongly denied the allegations against it at the time.

But relations between Abu Dhabi and Doha have warmed in recent months with Sheikh Mohammed visiting Qatar during the football World Cup last December.

Bahrain and Qatar last month held the first round of bilateral talks aimed at repairing relations. Abu Dhabi, like Manama, has not appointed an envoy to Doha but restored travel and trade links with Qatar. 

Reporting by Reuters