Jeddah : Tuesday, October 3, 2006

The Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Jusuf Kalla, who is in a visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, received , at the Conference Palace in Jeddah, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, the President of the Islamic Development Bank and accompanying delegation.

During the audience the two parties signed an agreement of about US$ 26 million for Developing and Upgrading of the Islamic University of Allauddin Makassar Project in Indonesia.

The proposed Project will help upgrade and expand the academic and research facilities as well as curricula of Islamic University of Allauddin Makassar to carryout quality education and advanced training in modern science faculties in addition to the traditional faculties of Islamic Studies and Shariah.

H.E. Jusuf Kalla commended the good and developing relations between the Republic of Indonesia and the IDB in all development fields, specially the IDB humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the Tsunami Disaster.

During the meeting, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, touched on the steps taken by IDB for establishing the Islamic Infrastructure Fund for Indonesia, and the Middle East Investment Forum which was sponsored by IDB and took place in Jeddah 23-24 Sep 2006.
"IDB is delighted to be a strategic partner of the Government of Indonesia GOI in promoting its investments in the Middle East and other Member Countries." he concluded.

Indonesia Housing Sector, Policies and Programs 2005-2009 were also discussed during the audience.