Beijing, China, 22 January 2024 – The AAA-rated Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), based in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), headquartered in Beijing, China, are in discussions to expand collaboration in treasury activities on money and capital markets.

The visiting IsDB President, Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, on Monday 22 January 2024, met with Head of ICBC Financial Institutions, Mr. Wang Kun at the ICBC headquarters in Beijing.

They exchanged views over potential participation in IsDB’s Sukuk issuances for 2024. Relations between IsDB and China’s biggest lender, ICBC, started in 2021.

IsDB, the leading multilateral development bank of the Global South, plans its largest funding program ever for the year 2024 as it targets to raise US$ 6 billion through benchmark-size Sukuk issuances mainly in USD and EUR.

Since establishment in 1976, IsDB has approved more than US$ 180 billion in financing to fund major socio-economic development projects in its 57 member countries. In recent years, it has successfully issued billions of dollars’ worth of Sukuk, the Islamic equivalent for what is globally knows as bonds. The Bank is now planning to diversify its Sukuk into other currencies such as the RMB.