The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning(BAPPENAS) launched a booklet entitled “Mapping Indonesia’s Resource Centers: Promoting Reverse Linkage through South-South and Triangular Cooperation” in Jakarta, Indonesia on 23 April 2018.

The Mapping booklet consists of the profiles of 22 public and private Indonesian resource centers with proven knowledge, expertise, and technology from 12 economic sectors. These economic sectors are namely in agriculture, marine and fisheries, health and population, pharmaceutical, technical, vocational education and training, planning and budgeting, microfinance, transportation, appropriate technology, industry, trade and disaster risk mitigation. Identified by the Government of Indonesia, these resource centres are regarded as potential partner “developers” which have expressed their willingness to collaborate through IsDB’s “Reverse Linkage” initiative and share their knowledge for the benefit of other IsDB Member Countries.

The “Reverse Linkage” is a technical cooperation mechanism enabled by the IsDB whereby the Bank’s Member Countries exchange their knowledge, expertise, technology and resources to develop capacities and devise solutions for the sake of their development in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

The launch of the Mapping booklet aims to promote Indonesia’s South-South and Triangular Cooperation program in its areas of expertise and comparative advantage through the Reverse Linkage modality. Representatives from the government ministries and agencies, international organizations, development partners and media attended the event.

H.E. Ir. Slamet Soedarsono, Deputy Minister for Political Affairs, Law, Defense and Security, BAPPENAS, said: “The Government of Indonesia is committed to further strengthen the development cooperation and facilitate South-South and Triangular Cooperation initiatives in the form of knowledge sharing through IsDB Reverse Linkage modality. We hope that Indonesia’s resource centers can share development knowledge and experiences with other IsDB Member Countries.”

Meantime, Mr. Ibrahim Shoukry, Head of IsDB Regional Hub for South East Asia, stated,”IsDB is proud to support Indonesia, as one of the emerging middle-income countries, to share its valuable and advantageous expertise and experience with other Member Countries to accelerate their development agenda. Indonesia has been one of the strongest partners to the IsDB Reverse Linkage. The renowned cooperation on artificial insemination of livestock with the Kyrgyz Republic is one instance of how Indonesia has successfully supported another IsDB Member Country under the framework of Reverse Linkage. In order to accelerate the knowledge and expertise sharing, we encourage the Member Countries to gain from the resource centers listed in the Mapping booklet.”

In order to renew and formally scale up the development cooperation through the IsDB Reverse Linkage, H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, the IsDB Group President, and H.E. Prof. Dr. Bambang Brodjonegoro, the Minister of National Development Planning, Indonesia, signed a Reverse Linkage MoU in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 27 December 2017 whereby Indonesia reaffirms its commitment to share its expertise and knowledge to the IsDB Member Countries in the areas indicated in the Mapping booklet.