Jeddah- 23/1/2007

H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, the President of the Islamic Development Bank, received, at the Bank's headquarters, in Jeddah, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister H.E .Turay Avci, and the Chairman of (TRNC) Chamber of Commerce, and accompanying delegation.

At the opening of the meeting, H.E. Turay Avci expressed his warm thanks and gratitude to the Islamic Development Bank for the valued support it has been providing to the Muslim community in N. Cyprus for more than two decades. He praised the positive impact of the Bank's assistance which is mostly dedicated to education sector. In that context H.E. the Deputy Premier expressed his desire for enhancing cooperation between the two parties to involve new projects in health, housing and environment sectors.

In the meeting, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, expressed the Bank's aspiration to maintain and develop cooperation with N. Cyprus' Islamic community, stating that the Bank will exert all efforts for escalating cooperation between private sector in member countries and their counterparts in N. Cyprus through the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Exports Credit (ICIEC).

He also declared that the Bank would provide US$ 100,000 grant financing to participate in organizing an international conference for environment protection on 19-24 February 2007.