Annual Meetings History

 A bit of Annual Meetings trivia:

• The first Annual Meetings were held on a boat on the Potomac River, with only a few dozen people in attendance. The purpose of the first Meetings was to inform shareholding countries of the Bank's work over the past year and to share the Annual Report.
• The last time the Meetings were held in Istanbul was in 1952, when they were held on a boat on the Bosphorus.
• This year's Meetings will be held at the Istanbul Congress Center, with several thousand people expected to attend. The 2009 Annual Meetings is a multi-faceted event with seminars, speeches, press conferences, as well as G7-8/G24 meetings.
• About 800 representatives from civil society organizations and 700 registered journalists are expected to attend this year's Meetings.