The foundation meeting of the proposed Middle East development bank will be held in Washington on 10 January, the European Commission director for the Middle East Erberhard Rhein said on 8 December. The meeting will be attended by delegations from Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinians, he said.

Rhein was speaking at the Partenariat EU-Middle East conference in Cairo held on 6-8 December. The conference was attended by about 2,000 delegates from more than 500 countries mainly from Europe, Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Palestine.