• First IsDB GIZ partnership for innovative new transit solutions
• Bringing together representatives of 10 countries focusing on key issues across mass transit
• Encouraging greater investment into infrastructure and environment projects through public-private partnerships in MCs

Dubai, UAE, 10 May, 2018 – For the first time in their series of workshops, experts from IsDB and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have joined the participants to discuss tools, technology and implementation mechanisms to develop the best transit solutions for each city context. The Jeddah based Islamic Development Bank, IsDB, and GIZ hosted a two day event (9-10 May) in Dubai, UAE, bringing in 22 participants from 10 countries to focus on two priority issues namely; “lessons learnt and best practices for planning and financing Mass Transit projects in developing countries” as well as “the role of private sector in helping countries leapfrog from a very low modal share of Public Transport to equitable access to Mass Transit for all user groups.”

The IsDB supporting this have said “We know the world is quickly urbanising, not least in large parts of Africa. The 21^st century will see a world that lives more in cities than villages. With 70% of the global population expected to live in cities in the next thirteen years, existing cities and metropolises are not necessarily prepared to accommodate a growing influx of population from the rural areas, placing extreme pressures on not just the physical infrastructure of the city, such as sewage systems and hospitals, but also on the softer social fabric of the city itself. As the cities continue to sprawl and grow without any direction, the need for building better and smarter cities becomes inevitable.”

Since 2013, the two organisations have been cooperating in organising regional thematic workshops across Asia, Africa and the Arab region to discuss Sustainable Mobility challenges and solutions with more than 300 country representatives from sector Ministries, City Councils or Transport institutions. The IsDB has reinforced this by outlining that the challenges facing the developing world are too big to be managed by any single stakeholder, whether it be governments, the private sector, the multilateral institutions or the non-profit sector, but a combination of Public and Private institutions can do so by working together to focus funds on sustainable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

The urban population of the Islamic Development Bank’s 57 member countries stood at around 863 million people in 2016, i.e. more than half of the total population. The figure is projected by the United Nations (UN) to more than double to 1.773 million people by 2050. Urban areas are meeting even more pressing and growing challenges, at the heart of which is Sustainable Mobility and Transport and Climate Change. Some large cities and urban areas are gridlocked today, with very low provision of Public Transport services and unsustainable development paths, while in other regions ambitious reforms and urban transport programs are underway to tackle the challenges and put the necessary conditions in place for a livable and equitable future for all urban residents.

Dubai is one of the most impressive examples of such successful transitions. According to Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, the share of public transport in the mobility of Dubai residents has leapfrogged from 6 percent in 2006 to 17 percent in 2017, and the plan is to achieve 20 percent by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030. Dubai is also a place for continuous technological innovations in the transport sector.

H.E. DR. Bandar M.H. Hajjar has recently announced that the Islamic Development Bank Group has also established the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Infrastructure Advisory Facility that will provide support to member countries for advisory work on enabling environment and infrastructure projects. The lessons learnt from the workshop will be integrated into a joint IsDB and GIZ publication.