On 11^th November 2020, The President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, opened the Finance in Common Summit, co-organised by IsDB with the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) and the World Federation of the Development Finance Institutions (WFDFI). Dr. Hajjar spoke alongside chairs of other networks of Public Development Banks (PDBs).

In the opening session, he highly valued this unprecedented gathering of the world’s 450 Public development Banks (PDBs) to discuss their role, ambition, and challenges. 

“We, the Multilateral Development Banks, are proof that different stakeholders can successfully pull resources together to finance common objectives and create impact. That is why I have believed in this gathering and supported the Summit from the beginning” he said.

Dr. Hajjar stated in the opening ceremony of the summit that MDBs can play a key role in this important coalition of Public Development Banks and need to seize this unique opportunity to be catalysts of “Finance in Common”.

He described the Summit as timely to agree on the diagnosis and discuss the collective direction needed to achieve the SDGs and the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

In designing their shared vision, Dr. Hajjar urged the PDBs to be ready to revisit their development narrative. “As PDBs we may develop a comprehensive development model that generates holistic solutions by involving a variety of stakeholders: public and private sectors, philanthropies, and civil society.”

This Summit is organised as part of the Paris Peace Forum that gathers global leaders and world-renowned experts representing a variety of sectors to part in open dialogue, standing united in diversity as they discuss solutions rather than problems.

On 12th November, Dr, Hajjar has attended the Official Ceremony of the Paris Peace Forum, an annual gathering in its 3^rd edition that has gathered multiple heads of state, government and international organisations to work on a collective response to the Covid-19 pandemic – and define what the principles for the post-Covid 19 world should be.

Addressing the plenary session of the FiCS, which followed this official ceremony, Dr. Hajjar denoted that despite the very good arrangements set up for the Finance in Common Summit, not being able to be all together in Paris is a reminder that COVID-19 is not behind us yet.

“Actually, COVID-19 accelerated the impact created by emerging changes and challenges at the global level. And even if the pandemic puts us all equal in front of the threat, it has proven that a lot more needs to be done to achieve strong Resilience and Economic Empowerment” he said.

“I believe that development and stability go hand in hand together and that they cannot be achieved if some are winning while a majority is losing. This coalition, we are building today, comes at the right time to fight for improving the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable” he added.

Dr. Hajjar, one of the signatories of the Finance in Common Declaration, expressed his pleasure to see that the Finance in Common Declaration has been signed by many partners, including sister MDBs, stating that “We are the seed money to jump-start the largest fund ever with the most noble target: empowering all humans, leaving no one behind and safeguarding our planet in a sustainable manner” he added.

Finally, he stressed that MDBs with their natural global reach and being representative of a variety of stakeholders will surely be key partners in making markets work for development. He then announced that in a few weeks, the group of MDBs will showcase in a joint publication their contribution to the SDGs.

The Summit was co-organised by the IsDB, IDFC and WFDI, and steered by AFD (French Development Agency) in parallel of the Paris Peace Forum, an annual gathering hosted by France around multilateralism and peace.