5th October, 2010, Istanbul, The Islamic Development Bank Group’s Chief Economist Dr. Ifzal Ali says while recovery in industrialized economies has wavered, a solid recovery has been ignited in emerging markets. Addressing the ADFIMI Development Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, Dr. Ifzal Ali touched upon developing Asia being at the forefront of the economic recovery driven by strong private demand, buoyant exports and the continuing effects of stimulus measures “The time has come to shift focus from managing cyclical output fluctuations to ensuring medium and long-term growth”, he said elaborating that Supply side structural reforms will be needed to enhance factor accumulation and productivity improvements while simultaneously, broadening the inclusiveness of growth to ensure that a significantly larger share of the citizenry participate in and benefit from growth. The IDB Group chief economist then called for the role of development finance to be more nuanced with an increasing emphasis on quality over quantity. “Political economy issues including governance and institution for more cost-effective delivery of public goods and services must be addressed” he said, adding “Development finance will need to assist government as provider of access and opportunities in private markets.”
Prior to Dr. Ifzal Ali’s speech, Murat Yalcintash, president of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce and Mehmet Emin Ozcan, chairman of the ADFIMI Development Forum thanked the IDB Group President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali for his lifelong contributions to development finance and his efforts to bringing development and prosperity to Muslims in different parts of the world. The forum is to honor IDB Group President in its closing session on 6th October, 2010.
Speakers from the World Bank Group, OECD, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and leading financial and economic institutions from different parts of the world including Malaysia, Egypt, also addressed the forum.