Jeddah, 13/1/2013, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the IDB Group, has expressed delight as the Group’s financing reached an all-time high of USD 9.8 billion in 1433H (2012) i.e. an increase of 18% over that of 1432H (2011), which stood at USD 8.3 billion.
He stated that the IDB Group increased its financing for its member countries significantly in a bid to satisfy their growing developmental needs and to arrest the adverse effects of recurrent financial crises on the economies of many IDB member countries. The IDB financing continued to grow annually even during and after the global financial crises. Thus, while the Group’s financing stood at USD 5.4 billion only in 1429H (2008), it had thereafter achieved an 81% increase over the five past
years.
The President, IDB Group then broached some of the many initiatives that the IDB has launched over the past few years. He pointed out that the IDB had completed a five-year (2008 – 2012) financing under the Special Programme for the Development of Africa (SPDA) and that the overall financing for the implementation of the SPDA stood at USD 13.5 billion while only USD 12 billion was allocated initially. The IDB contributed USD 5.1 billion out of this amount thereby exceeding the USD 4 billion
initially allocated. The remainder was provided by a number of regional and international financing institutions, he stated.
The President, IDB Group also talked about the Education for Employment (E4E) Initiative that the IDB launched in 2011 in collaboration with the World Bank. The two sides agreed, under the Initiative, to raise around USD 1 billion and invest it in educational programmes that create jobs and help to enhance education in the Arab World, connect it to the job market and build the private sector’s capacity to finance and provide high quality education.
He also talked about another initiative for which the IDB has allocated USD 250 million to tackle unemployment and reduce poverty in Arab countries in transition by creating jobs through intensive training programmes that meet job market requirements and subsidize microfinance, vocational training institutions as well as small and medium-size enterprises through proper lines of financing.
He further stated that, in a bid to continue the foregoing efforts, the IDB would host in 1434H the Secretariat of the Coordination Platform of International Financial Institutions for one year as part of the Deauville Partnership. It is an initiative designed to support Arab countries going through a transition phase. The initiative was launched by the G8 in 2011; it is composed of the G8, regional partners and ten international financial institutions including the IDB, he added.
As for the 1434H (2013) Operations Plan, the President, IDB Group stated that the Plan is in line with the IDB Group’s 2nd Medium-Term Strategy (1434H – 1436H)/(2013 – 2015) and that the IDB Board of Executive Directors had approved the operations plan of the new financial year with a 10% increase over that of 1433H. He also pointed out that the IDB would continue to lay greater emphasis on supporting the human development sector, agriculture, rural development and infrastructure.
Finally, the President, IDB Group stressed that supporting development efforts in IDB member countries requires huge resources. He recalled the need to take into account reports issued by specialized international organizations that indicate that more than half of IDB member countries are among the least developed countries worldwide.
He added that he was positive that all member countries are eager to support their institution, the IDB, not only to implement the resolution of the 4th Extraordinary Islamic Summit, which took place in Makkah in Ramadan (August) last year, to increase the IDB’s capital but also because of the member countries’ conviction that this institution belongs to all of them and that they should enable it to continue its efforts of meeting their growing developmental needs and help the least developed
member countries to overcome their socioeconomic woes.
It is worth indicating that the “Djibouti Declaration” issued at the end of the 39th Session of the Islamic Council of Foreign Ministers, which took place in Djibouti from 1 to 3 Muharam 1434H (15 – 17 November 2012), had called on the IDB Governors to start implementing the resolution as soon as possible.