Kuwait : Tuesday, May 30, 2006

In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Beneficent.

Praise be to Allah, and His blessings upon our Prophet,
Muhammad, his household and all his companions.

H.H. Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, May Allah Protect him!
H.H. the Crown Prince, Sheikh Nawwaf Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah,
H.H. Prime Minister of Kuwait, Naser Al Muhammad Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah,
Y.E. IDB Governors and Alternate Governors,
H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, IDB President,
Your Excellencies,
Dear Guests,

Assalamu Alaykum Warahmotullah Wabarakatuhu

In my capacity as Chairman of the Board of Governors, allow me at the outset to extend, in your names all, to H.H. Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Emir of the State of Kuwait, my sincere thanks and gratitude for his kind patronage of these meetings. The State of Kuwait is honoured today to host the Thirty First Annual Meeting of the IDB Group Board of Governors. On this occasion, it gives me great pleasure to profusely and warmly welcome you, wishing you a nice stay in your second home country, the State of Kuwait.
I should not fail my duty of extending my profound and sincere thanks and appreciation to H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank, the IDB Board of Executive Directors and all; the IDB staff for the efforts they exert to promote the role of the IDB and develop its performance in a manner that has made of it a pioneer at both the regional and international levels, as a result of its efficient contribution to the support of socio-economic development efforts in member countries.

Since establishment of the IDB, the State of Kuwait has been keen to provide all forms of support and assistance to it, out of its belief in the importance of joint Islamic action and the important role played by the Bank and the noble objectives which it seeks to achieve in the face of challenges that are facing the Muslim Ummah.

The patronage of H.H. Sheikh Sabah al Ahmad al Jaber Al Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait of these meetings and their hosting by the State of Kuwait come as a continuation of the firm policy of the State of Kuwait and its keenness to support this pioneering institution and facilitate its noble message.

Your Highness
Your Highnesses and Excellencies
Dear Brothers and Sisters

The accelerated economic and financial changes and developments witnessed by the world have direct impact and ramifications on the conditions of our countries and the performance of our economies and institutions in general.

The year 2005 witnessed important changes that will have a clear influence on the global economy, because of the international initiatives they contained in the field of development and bridging the big gap that limits the ability of developing countries to realize the new Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015, especially in the fields of combating poverty, improving the quality of education and health, in addition to debt reduction of highly indebted countries and the putting in place of plans that are required to increase the volume of aids extended to developing countries, with the aim of realizing the plans and programmes of the millennium, which constitute firm objectives, the realization of which we earnestly seek.

In this context, I should not miss commending the role of the Islamic Development Bank as an international financial institution which works towards mitigating the effects of these changes on the development performance of member countries, where the Bank?s operations and financing witnessed a noticeable increase that reached about US$ 4 billion in 2005 distributed over 316 operations, which include operations that would promote economic cooperation among member countries, encouraging intra-trade and contribute to the growth of the Islamic Financial industry and introduction of the instruments necessary for its development. This is in addition to the Bank?s blessed step of allocating 10% of its revenues for developing the technological sectors.

The establishment of the International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (IITFC), whose Articles of Agreement were singed this morning, represents an important step in boosting joint action among member countries; it would increase the rates of terms of trade among member countries to the desired levels, especially that the IITFC will commence its operations with an authorized capital amounting to US$ 3 billion and a subscribed capital of US$ 500 million. This represents an important turning point in consolidating trade financing operations within the IDB Group.

Your Highness
Your Excellencies
Brothers and Sisters

The Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabic, during the period 7-8 December 2005, adopted the Ten-Year?s OIC Work Programme, which carried many aspirations and ambitious targets in important areas, of which the following are but examples:

? Promotion of development and poverty alleviation in Africa.
? Social solidarity in the face of natural disasters
? Encouragement of education in the filed of Science and Technology.

To implement the above supreme orientations, the Islamic Development Bank prepared a document entitled ?IDB vision 1440H?, in the light of which the above aspiration will be translated into a work programme. This will require providing all forms of support and resource mobilization to enable IDB discharge the great responsibilities entrusted to it by our leaders.

In concluding my speech, I should not fail to extend my sincere condolences to the Republic of Indonesia for the grievous disaster that caused the death of thousands of lives and destroyed property as a result of the terrifying earthquake that struck the Island of Java. We pray to Allah Almighty to rest in peace the souls of those who passed away and to offer solace for their relatives.

Wassalaamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakathu.