Jeddah --March,8
In a bid to foster closer cooperation with international institutions engaged in international trade finance and development, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) invited the Deputy Director of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mrs. Rugwabiza Valentine, and the Chief Executive Officer of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Mrs. Patricia Francis, to attend the opening session of the 6th Meeting of its Board of Directors held in Jeddah today 8.3.2008 , and speak on WTO-related issues. The agenda of the meeting comprised items addressing the way the ITFC will carry out its activities during the coming period.
It may be recalled here that the ITFC officially started business at the beginning of the year with the objective of promoting trade among member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) by providing funds for trade and striving to increase OIC intra-trade from 13% to 20% by the year 2015. It also aims at addressing issues concerning compliance with WTO agreements and to perform the task of building member countries’ export capacity in line with the Sharia.
The ITFC’s authorized capital stands at US$ 3 billion and the capital put forward for subscription at US$ 750 million. The ITFC has been established to continue the IDB’s efforts to boost trade among its member countries. The IDB’s trade finance operations so far stands at US$ 27 billion and have increased significantly over the past five years at an annual rate of US$ 2 billion