London, 26 January 2006

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation, established by His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, to cooperate on a number of initiatives including youth engagement, youth leadership, sustainable development and teaching and training.
The MoU signing followed the opening of a conference celebrating the 30th Anniversary Celebrations of the Bank held in London. The conference, chaired by Prof. Rifat Abdel Karim, Secretary General of the Kuala Lumpur–based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) was graced by Guest of Honour, HRH The Prince of Wales, who, the previous evening hosted a private dinner marking the 30th Anniversary Celebrations of the IDB and other dignitaries, at his residence, Clarence House.

Other dignitaries attending the conference included HE President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali; Rt Hon Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development; and HE Tan Sri Mohamed Nor Yakcop, Second Finance Minister of Malaysia.

IDB President Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali in his welcome speech said that during the last thirty years, the IDB enjoyed collaboration and active support of its stakeholders and development partners, and it has indeed come a long way from its initial challenging years. “When the IDB commenced its operations in 1975, one of the major constraints it faced was the limited number of available Islamic financing instruments that can be readily applied. As such, the Bank had to evolve new modes of financing to satisfy the different types of financing requirements of its member countries. Various modes of financing which share a common feature were therefore developed by the Bank to overcome this constraint. Some of these instruments are increasingly being used by banks in Europe and other parts of the world.”

IDB project financing, for instance, has been specifically focused on education, health, public utilities, agriculture and infrastructure. About one third of the Bank’s operations approvals had been extended on a concessional basis to projects with poverty alleviation impact and special consideration for the Bank’s 23 least developed member countries.

Dr Ali stressed that the IDB’s financing had reached to cumulative approvals of about US$45 billion by the end of 2005.

He stressed that the IDB had embarked on a long-term strategic initiative, the IDB Vision 2020 which has been developed in collaboration with prominent personalities from a number of countries. The resultant medium term strategic plan has a specific focus on poverty alleviation and economic development.

Dr Ali said that the IDB is keen to collaborate with the Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation in various fields relating to community development in the UK.
The Prince of Wales praised the positive difference the IDB has made throughout the Muslim world. “I was amazed to learn that the Islamic home financing in the UK will reach £1.4 billion by 2009. I also know that the City of London will live up to its reputation in leadership and innovation and grab this opportunity to co-operate with the Islamic financial institutions.”

The Prince of Wales outlined the work of his Charities, which he said was “helping people fulfill their potential and develop their self-esteem.” He concluded by thanking the IDB for its interest in co-operating with his Charities, whom he stressed were looking forward to this co-operation.