UAE participates in the 36th Annual Meeting of IDB’s Board of Governors

Headed by HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, a delegation from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will be participating in the 36^th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank’s (IDB) board of governors taking place in Jeddah; KSA on the 29^th and 30^th of June, 2011.

The delegation will include HE Musabah Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary of Support Services Sector, Ali Hamdan Ahmed, Director of International and Regional Financial Organizations Department, Hamad Essa Al Zaabi, Director of the Minister’s office, in addition to a number of MoF specialists and experts.

The meeting will involve discussions regarding the event’s agenda and the approval of IDB’s financial statements, in addition to highlighting prominent developments and financial issues of interest to the Muslim world. A joint agreement between the UAE and the IDB is expected to be signed to establish a regional office for the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) in Dubai.

The meeting will also address the issue of adopting and approving the 2010 financial statements and balance sheets of IDB and its affiliates. 5% of IDB’s net income will be allocated to providing technical assistance, while 2% of the net income will be invested in the scholarship program for outstanding individuals.

“The 36^th annual meeting of the IDB Board of Governors is vital in implementing the necessary programs to develop its group and enhancing development operations among its member states to correspond with their needs and aspirations. This will be done through developing IDB’s portfolio to discover ways of increasing the group’s contribution in the development of member state economies. We also need to adopt the necessary plans for activating and developing mechanisms of joint Islamic efforts,” HE Al Tayer said.

HE Al Tayer called on the IDB to increase its operations to better meet the needs and requirements of member states, stressing the need to move towards innovating, modernizing and developing IDB’s services, projects and activities. HE also emphasized the need to move forward with reform efforts launched in 2007 to ensure that the aspirations of the Muslim community are met.

HE also asked the IDB to launch new financing channels in addition to developing existing ones to promote partnership and cooperation and provide a positive socio-economic environment in aims of raising living standards for the Muslim world.

Another key focus of the meeting will be increasing ICIEC’s capital from 150 million Islamic Dinars to 400 million Islamic Dinars. The UAE is expected to approve the increase and provide a similar contribution or to double the amount to 7.5 million Islamic dinars.

On the sidelines of the annual meeting of IDB Board of Governors, a series of assemblies will be held. They will include the Meeting of the Al Aqsa Fund Supreme Council, the 18th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ICIEC, the 4^th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), the 11^th General Assembly of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), in addition to the 6^th General Assembly of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

The Islamic Development Bank recorded strong financial results in 2010 where it was able to maintain a high rate of credit operations for the second consecutive year. IDB focused on key areas including mitigating poverty, ensuring food security, developing infrastructure, regional cooperation and Islamic financing. Last year, the total funds provided by the group amounted to 6.96 billion U.S. dollars which were used in financing 363 projects. The total funds that have been approved since the establishment of the bank reached 70.3 billion U.S. dollars. These funds were invested in 6895 projects.

The IDB net income amounted to 161.3 million Islamic Dinars; recording a strong increase of 29.35%. For the 7^th year in a row, IDB also ranked as (AAA), which is the highest rank given to an institution. This reflects the strong support provided by the member states to the bank and the solid financial position and conservative fiscal policies utilized by the bank with regards to risk management.

The Islamic Development Bank is an international financial institution established in December 1973 in Jeddah. The official launch of IDB’s activities took place on the 20^th of October 1975. The bank aims at supporting the economic development and the social progress of member states and Muslim communities in non – member states. In compliance with the principles of Islamic Sharia, IDB’s support is provided either collectively or individually.

The authorized capital of IDB amounts to 30 billion Islamic Dinars. Its subscribed capital is 18 billion Islamic Dinars, while the paid – in capital amounts to 4.3 billion Islamic Dinars. The Bank deals with the Islamic Dinar as its currency which is equivalent to one unit of the bank’s special drawing rights (SDR).