Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 15 December 2021 – Islamic Development Bank President and Chairman of IsDB Group Chairman, H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser told  the “II International Congress: G Global. World of the XXI Century" that with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at its heart, the Bank is committed to supporting its member countries on the path towards sustainable recovery from COVID-19.

Dr. Al Jasser, who addressed the Plenary Session Part 2  “Building Back Better: More Integrated, More Digital, More Green and Sustainable Global Economy”  underlined that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc, causing widespread socio-economic disruptions across the globe, but despite that the pandemic offers an unprecedented opportunity to rethink and forge a more equitable and resilient path towards Sustainable Development Goals.

“Our target is that by 2025, at least 35% of IsDB operations will be in climate finance. To this end, we are increasing investments in renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture, urban, water, and transport systems,” he elaborated.

President Al Jasser noted that the Islamic Development Bank Group, since inception, has approved over US$ 6.27 billion for Central Asia, comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Bank has also promoted cooperation among its member countries through intra-trade and provided financing for regional infrastructure projects and production capacity related to trade in its member countries.

He added that the Bank is increasingly supporting the regional corridor approach for its member countries, convinced that transport corridors are one of the direct ways to support economic integration, which is vital for the growth of countries, particularly the landlocked ones. He stressed that the corridors also provide a sub-regional framework for collaboration between different countries and public and private sector stakeholders in providing trade facilitation and logistics infrastructure and services.

“Based on the Bank's Regional Cooperation and Integration Policy and Strategy, we follow an open regionalism approach to achieve compatibility between regional trade arrangements and the global trading system. We support building economic platforms and establishing new trade links among different regions” he said.