Washington DC, 14.10.2013- The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has called for financial inclusion and improvement in the welfare of the poor people during his inaugural address at a conference on Islamic finance jointly organized by IDB, the World Bank and the World Federation of Development Financing Institutions (WFDFI) on the occasion of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual Meetings in Washington DC.

“Improving the welfare of the people and uplifting of the society through development financing is a shared vision and mission of all the development institutions represented in this important conference today”, said Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali. He then went on to call on the participants to explore solutions to strengthen the Islamic finance industry by increasing financial inclusion “leveraging upon the inherent resilience of the Islamic finance sector and thereby advancing global stability”.

President Ahmad Mohamed Ali stated that the Islamic finance industry is growing rapidly citing the case of the global Sukuk (Islamic bonds) issuances which reached US $137 billion. This, according to Dr. Ali, is a source for funding long term projects in areas like energy, communication, healthcare and education.

The IDB Group Chairman also explained that “Islamic finance is not confined to the commercial, for-profit domain. An essential component of it is the non-profit domain: Zakat and Awqaf and other benevolent activities”.

Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali finally thanked the World Bank for supporting the conference and expressed the readiness of the Islamic Development Bank to avail its expertise on Islamic finance to concerned authorities.