Jeddah, KSA-The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali, has called on OIC member countries and the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) to establish a working group that will study and exchange expertise in utilizing Islamic finance for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
President Ahmad Ali was speaking on Monday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, while addressing delegates to the 11th WIEF, taking place from 3-5 November 2015. The theme of this year’s event is “Building Resilience for Equitable Growth”.
“I suggest the immediate establishment of a working group, among OIC institutions and specialized business forums like WIEF, to study the ways and means of leveraging support by Islamic finance to SMEs, through research and exchange of expertise,” said the IDB President.
“Likewise, the partnership financing, the core element of Islamic finance, is an important source of funding for SMEs that can provide opportunities for entrepreneurship, jobs creation and income generation.”
“The growing sukuk industry at the global level gives a tangible evidence that Islamic finance will play a major role in development financing especially for large-scale infrastructure,” he added.
He told the participants, including Malaysian Prime Minister, HE Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and over 20 heads of states attending the WIEF, that the IDB Group is committed to providing solutions in the development of the requisite legal, regulatory, supervisory and Shari’ah frameworks for the development of SMEs.
Dr Ahmad Ali then commended the effort of OIC member countries like Turkey, which chairs the G20 presidency, for giving prominence to issues related to the private sector. He stated that the presence of Turkey, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, the three OIC Members in the G20, will pursue these initiatives and particularly the role of Islamic finance in ensuring more robust and inclusive growth.
The IDB President then lamented on the situation in the Muslim world; according to him, more than 90 percent of the 60 million people displaced due to conflicts and disasters globally are from OIC member countries.
He finally called on all multilateral development banks and government institutions to work towards mainstreaming Islamic finance, especially in mobilizing resources for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
On the sidelines of the 11th WIEF, the IDB President held separate meetings with the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Governor of Korea’s Chungcheong province where they discussed IDB programs in both countries.