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Jeddah-25/2/2007
The Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) concluded its 243rd session today at the Bank's headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, approved more than US$ 614 million for financing trade operations, and new development projects in Kyrgyz, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Togo and Morocco.
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, IDB President who Chaired the session, stated that the Board approved Grants from the Waqf Fund for Islamic Communities in Canada, Bosnia Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Malawi, Britain, Philippines and India, in addition to a Grant for participation in the Construction of Nursing Colleges and Provision of Laboratory equipment for Mogadishu University in Somalia. Dr. Ali explained that the Board was also briefed on operations approved by the President, between the previous and present sessions of the Board, in respect of Trade Financing Operations, Export Financing Scheme, Technical Assistance and other projects. "They involved (11) trade operations in favor of (7) member countries, and Technical Assistance in favor of Maldives and Burkina Faso in addition to two soft loans to Palestine for Provision of Textbooks for the Academic Year 2006-2007, and Gaza Electrical Interconnection with the Egyptian Power. " Furthermore, the Board reviewed a draft policy paper on Poverty Reduction Fund and a progress report on the implementation of the IDB 1440H Vision. It also approved the Bank's accession to the International Comparison Programme (ICP) of the World Bank, which includes 47 member countries of the IDB among its membership of 150 . The Board approved US$ 1.1 million as technical assistance grant to ICP.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
- US$ 17.3 million loan financing for Reconstruction of Osh-Irkeshtam Road Project, Kyrgyz.
- US$ 10.5 million loan financing for Construction and Equipping of Vocational Colleges Project, Uzbekistan.
- US$ 10 million loan financing for Regional Power Transmission Interconnection Project, Tajikistan.
- US$ 10.1 million loan financing for Health Project 2- Construction and Equipping Health Facilities, Togo.
- US$ 78 million loan financing for participation in Expanding Khozestan Steel Factory- Phase-2, Iran.
- US$ 26.5 million for participation in Modernization of Mining Equipment of Nouadhibo Port, Mauritania.
- US$ 130 million for participation in Construction of a part of Fes- taza Road, Morocco.
GRANTS AND SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PROJECTS FROM WAQF FUND
- US$ 750,000 for Purchasing of a Building for Olive Grove School, Ontario, Canada.
- US$ 4 million for Extension of Karadjoz-Bey School in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- US$ 250,000 for Expansion of Omar Bin Khattab School at Jigjiga, Somali Region, Ethiopia.
- US$ 428,000 for Construction of Three Health Centers and Three Primary Schools (as part of Rural Community Centers) in Mangochi District, South East of Malawi.
- US$ 400,000 for Construction of Nursing College and Provision of Laboratory Equipments for Mogadishu University in Somalia.
- US$ 912,000 for Establishing a Programme to support the Younger British Muslims, in Education, Training, and Employment, in cooperation with the Prince of Wales Charities Foundation, United Kingdom.
- US$ 120,000 for Completion of Shariff Kabunsuan College School Building, Cotabato City, Philippines.
- US$ 160,000 for Construction of Primary and Secondary School for Girls, Kondhwa Town, Pune District, Maharashtra State, India.
APPROVALS BY THE PRESIDENT
The following are approvals of trade operations and project financing made by the President of the Bank between the previous and present sessions of the Board. Import Trade Financing Operations (ITFO):
- ITFO for Egypt for an amount of US$ 100 million to purchase Petroleum Products.
- Line of Import Trade Financing Operations for the Republic of Lebanon in favor of Bank of Beirut for US$ 5 million to purchase Raw Materials, Intermediate & Capital Goods.
- Line of Import Trade Financing Operations for the Republic of Lebanon in favor of Credit Libanaise Bank for US$ 7 million to purchase Raw Materials, Intermediate & Capital Goods.
- Two Import Trade Co-Financing Operations for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in favor of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources for US$ 100 million to purchase Crude Oil and Petroleum Products.
- ITFO for Sudan for an amount of US$ 10 million to purchase Raw Materials, Intermediate and Capital Goods.
- ITFO for Senegal for an amount of US$ 34 million to purchase Heavy Fuel Oil and Diesel Oil.
- ITFO for IRAN for an amount of US$ 4.2 million to purchase Raw Materials for Pharmaceutical Production.
- ITFO for Indonesia for an amount of US$ 20 million in favor of Bank MANDIRI.
- ITFO for Indonesia for an amount of US$ 6 million in favor of Bank Syariah MANDIRI – Indonesia.

Export Financing Scheme (EFS)
- Trade Financing Operation of Crude Oil & Petroleum Products from Kuwait to Bangladesh for US$ 25 million.

Technical Assistance
- US$ 255,000 Technical Assistant Grant for Upgrading the National Health Laboratory , Maldives.
- US$ 3,4 million Loan for Provision of Textbooks for the Academic Year 2006-2007 , State of Palestine.
- US$ 10 million Loan for Gaza Electrical Interconnection with the Egyptian Power , Palestine.
- US$ 119,000 Technical Assistance Grant for Capacity Building for Supply of Equipment for the Organization of Workshop for the Private French/ Arabic Polyvalent University Centre of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.