8 March, 2008,
The delegation comprised of H.E. Bahruddin Yousef Habibi Former President of Indonesia, H.E. Dr. Abdulrahman Swar Al-Dahab Former President of Sudan member of the Advisory Panel. The delegation also included H.E. Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB.
From the Indonesian side, the audience comprised Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Economy, and Finance (IDB Governor for Indonesia).
The delegation visited Indonesia in a bid to mobilize resources for the newly established Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) before the upcoming Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) summit next week in Dakar, Senegal.
During the meeting, H.E. The President of Indonesia expressed his utmost support to the ISFD for its noble objectives, and promised to consult with his brothers the Heads of States of the Organization of Islamic Conference during the upcoming summit on ways and means to achieve its noble objectives. The President of Indonesia also expressed his willingness to share Indonesia's experience in poverty alleviation, improving living conditions, job creation and technical training.
On his part, the President of IDB mentioned that he felt full welcome and reception from the Indonesian President to mobilize more resources for the fund in preparation for next week summit. The President of IDB also mentioned that the support for the fund initiative reflects the determination of the member states to eliminate poverty, improve living conditions of the people, and utilization of Science and technology.
The ISFD initiative goes back to the OIC extraordinary summit held in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in December 2005 within the Ten-Year Program of Action adopted by OIC. IDB was entrusted with establishing the fund.
The fund was formally adopted by IDB Board of Governors during the annual meeting last May in Dakar with a U.S. $10 billion target. Already $2.6 billion were contributed from 31 member countries and IDB resources.