H.E. the IDB Group President, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani and H.E. the Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI), Agus D.W. Martowardojo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Zakat Working Group and Capacity Building in Surabaya on 3 November 2014. The signing was held on the International Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF) in Surabaya, East Java. This MoU aims to facilitate the collaborations and cooperation between IDB and BI on sharia finance and economic development.

The cooperation is expected to result in constructive recommendation such as research and academic papers in relations with zakat. It also expected to support the development of core principles for zakat management and the expert exchange program.

Both parties agrees that zakat plays an important role in financial safety net whenever a country is in economic crisis. It also creates demands to goods and services that will affect price stability. Moreover, zakat can create savings and investments that drive intermediation and wider financial access in order to establish a more stable monetary system.