Iranian economy minister, OPEC fund chief meet in Washington

Iranian Minister of Economy Ali Tayyebnia and Director-General of OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) Suleiman J Al-Herbish discussed issues related to the oil cartel during a meeting in New York on Sunday. During the meeting held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) 2013 annual meetings, the two officials discussed the OPEC-related issues and loan strategies of OFID. The OPEC Fund is a multilateral development finance institution established in 1976 by the OPEC member states. Its objective is to reinforce financial cooperation between OPEC member states and other developing countries, by providing financial support to the latter for their socio-economic development. OPEC was founded in Baghdad in September 1960 with the signing of an agreement by five countries, namely Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. They were to become the founding members of the organization. These countries were later joined by Qatar, Indonesia, Libya, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Algeria, Nigeria, Ecuador, Gabon, and Angola. From December 1992 until October 2007, Ecuador suspended its membership. Gabon terminated its membership in 1995. Indonesia suspended its membership effective January 2009.