BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 18. The Heads of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) met under the 2025 Chairship of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) to review progress on collective actions and define priority areas for future work, Trend reports.
According to the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), the meeting highlighted strengthened cooperation among MDBs throughout 2025, building on the momentum created by their 2024 Viewpoint Note. Participants reaffirmed their commitment to working as a unified system to achieve greater impact and scale in global development.
Key achievements since the previous meeting in Paris on 28 June 2025 include a joint report to the G20 on the implementation of the G20 Roadmap for “Better, Bigger, and More Effective MDBs,” outlining advances in lending capacity, private capital mobilization, operational collaboration, and results measurement.
MDBs also released the first MDB Comparison Report, prepared by the Global Risk and Finance Forum (GRaFF), to improve transparency and comparability of financial positions. In addition, GRaFF published a note summarizing engagement with credit rating agencies to better communicate MDBs’ robust financial models and asset quality.
Another milestone was the launch of the inaugural Joint Annual MDB Water Security Financing Report at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla, alongside the publication of Social Infrastructure in Focus: The Role of Multilateral Development Banks, highlighting the collective contribution of MDBs to investment in health, education, housing, and water.
Ongoing work includes mobilizing private capital through new risk-sharing models, expanding financial innovation, and scaling up initiatives such as Mission 300. The Heads also discussed MDBs’ readiness to support countries ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, later this year.
Following the meeting, the Heads exchanged views with IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi on developments in civil nuclear energy.
The Chairship of the Heads of MDBs Group will pass from the CEB to the Asian Development Bank in December 2025. The Heads expressed appreciation to CEB Governor Carlo Monticelli for his leadership and commitment during his tenure.