Federal Assistant Treasurer, Nick Sherry, announced that he will travel to the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Istanbul, Turkey, to continue the Federal Government's strong advocacy for effective international collaboration in the face of the global recession.

Mr Sherry said that these meetings follow the Prime Minister's and Treasurer's recent attendance at the G20 Leaders Summit in Pittsburgh which focused on the global response and agreed on a framework for strong, sustainable and balanced world growth.

"As growth resumes, it will be critical to further strengthen the IMF and World Bank to reduce the likelihood of future crises and to mitigate the damage that future financial market fluctuations have on all countries, but developing countries in particular," the Mr Sherry said.

The Istanbul meetings will advance this reform agenda, with a particular focus on ensuring the IMF and World Bank have more representative governance arrangements and relevant mandates. Mr Sherry said that Australia has been a strong advocate of these reforms both within the G20 and the institutions themselves.

The Assistant Treasurer will represent Australia's World Bank constituency at the meeting of the Development Committee, which will consider World Bank resourcing and governance reforms.

6 October, 2009