(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 27. The IslamicDevelopment Bank Group (IsDB) is holding its 2024 Annual Meetingsand Golden Jubilee in Riyadh from April 27-30, under the RoyalPatronage of the Custodian of Two Holy Mosques, King Salman BinAbdulaziz Al-Saud, Trend reports from the event venue.
The 2024 Annual Meetings are being held under the theme of“Cherishing our Past, Charting our Future: Originality, Solidarityand Prosperity”, which marks IsDB's 50 years of fosteringsocio-economic development in its member countries.
Among other topics, the meetings will also feature roundtable onCOP29 with participation of Azerbaijani governmentrepresentatives.
As the premier South-South multilateral development Bank, the2024 IsDB Group Annual Meetings and Golden Jubilee are expected toattract international and regional attention. The Annual Meetingswill feature a series of side events with top-level panelists fromgovernment, international and regional organizations, the privatesector, academia, and civil society.
Ministers of Economy, Planning, and Finance from IsDB's 57member countries will participate in the event, along withrepresentatives of international and regional financialinstitutions, Islamic banks, private sector companies, national andinternational development finance institutions, international andregional organizations, NGOs, chambers of commerce & Industry, andbusiness councils.
The meetings will provide an opportunity to explore ways toconsolidate economic relations among IsDB member countries andmaximize cooperation with participating financing institutions.
During the Annual Meetings, IsDB is also celebrating the Bank'sGolden Jubilee to commemorate five decades of unwaveringcollaboration, steadfast partnerships, and transformative change marks a significant journey of IsDB that began 50 years ago inRiyadh with the inaugural meeting of IsDB Board of Governors, whichwas graced with the attendance of the Emir of Riyadh at that timeHRH Prince Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
A number of forums, seminars, and meetings will take placeduring this historic gathering including the Governors RoundtableMeeting, the 18th IsDB Global Forum on Islamic Finance, IsDB Group2024 Private Sector Forum, the Role of SMEs in Saudi Vision 2030,Charting a Course for Augmenting SDGs Financing, Leveraging IslamicFinance for Developing Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure,Arab Coordination Group Forum, Future Vision Symposium, GeneralAssembly of Federation of Consultants from Islamic Countries(FCIC).
Rated AAA by the major rating agencies of the world, the IslamicDevelopment Bank is the pioneering multilateral development bank ofthe Global South that has been working for 50 years to improve thelives of the communities it serves by delivering impact at scale by the principles of Islamic finance, the Bank bringstogether 57 Member Countries across four continents, touching thelives of nearly 1 in 5 of the world population. Its mission is toequip people to drive their own economic and social progress atscale, putting the infrastructure in place enabling them to fulfiltheir potential. Headquartered in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,IsDB has regional hubs and centers of excellence in 11 of itsMember Countries. Over the years, the Bank has evolved from asingle entity into a group comprising five entities: IslamicDevelopment Bank (IsDB), the Islamic Development Bank Institute(IsDBI) tasked with research and training, the Islamic Corporationfor the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), theIslamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector(ICD), and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation(ITFC).
Cooperation with Azerbaijan
Since Azerbaijan's membership in 1992, IsDB has been approvingeconomic and social infrastructure projects, mostly in energy,water and sanitation, and urban services, and improving access tofinance. More specifically, the Bank's financing assisted thecountry to reach the following socio-economic results:
In the Energy sector, an energy generation capacity of 1,060 MWand a renewable energy generation capacity of 230 MW wereinstalled. In addition, 287 kilometers of transmission/distributionlines were constructed, and 400 substations were installed orupgraded improving national energy security and boostingexports.
In Water and Sanitation sector, more than 100 small-scalepotable water distribution networks in rural communities wereconstructed or rehabilitated providing clean and safe drinkingwater and basic sanitation to 75,000 people in 4 regions ofAzerbaijan.
In the Agriculture and Rural Development sector, about 85,000hectares of agricultural land were irrigated, and modernagricultural equipment for farmers was provided.
In the Finance sector, a US$10 million of financing was providedto private sector enterprises including small and mediumenterprises affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late January of 2024 the IsDB and Azerbaijan's Ministry ofEconomy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), establishing acollaborative framework for the Country Engagement Framework (CEF)for Azerbaijan during 2024-2026.
The CEF will target projects and programs with high-impactintervention in areas that align with Azerbaijan 2030: NationalPriorities of Socio-Economic Development and the operationalstrengths of the Bank in line with the strategic priorities setunder the Bank's Strategic Realignment 2023-2025. It also aims toboost cooperation between the IsDB Group and Azerbaijan, expand thepotential areas of collaboration, and strengthen the Bank's supportin enhancing socio-economic development in the country.
TheIsDB CEF for Azerbaijan will be based on three main pillarsnamely, i) Green, resilient, and sustainable infrastructuredevelopment, including support for Karabakh reconstruction,renewable energy, regional connectivity, and sustainable productionof hydrocarbon resources; ii) Supporting productivity-based growthin a competitive and diversified economy, encompassing privatesector development, exports, and innovation in agriculture, as wellas the Halal ecosystem, and iii) Cross-cutting areas such asdigital transformation, Islamic finance, regional and south-southcooperation, and capacity development.
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