Jeddah : Thursday, April 27, 2006

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, received Thursday, at his guest residence at the conferences palace in Jeddah, H.E Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, the President of the Islamic Development Bank.

During the meeting, H.E the Indonesian President, praised the role of IDB in supporting the development efforts in his country, particularly the assistance provided by the Bank for the relief of Tsunami victims.

He also highlighted the performance of the Indonesian economy in the last year which resulted in curbing the overall inflation rate, balancing budget and generating thousands of employment opportunities. He invited IDB President to participate in the Second Conference for the Reconstruction of Aceh which would be held in September 2006 in Jakarta.

In turn, H.E. Dr. Ahmad Ali expressed his pride in the Bank's relations with the Republic of Indonesia, indicating that Indonesia was one of the main founders of the Islamic Development Bank.

He also stated that the IDB will hand out soon to the Indonesian government one of the orphan schools for Tsunami victims which was financed by the Bank, and will be completed by June 2006. He also expressed the readiness of the Bank for extending technical support to Indonesia for issuing (Sukuk) to help mobilize funds for the purpose of financing Indonesia's infrastructure projects.

Expressing his thanks to the President for inviting him to attend the second conference for the reconstruction of Ache infrastructure, Dr. Ahmad Ali promised to join the occasion which would take place in September 2006.

At the end of the meeting, the IDB President and the Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia signed an agreement where IDB will extend US$ 36 Million for reconstruction of IAIN Ar- Raniry University in Aceh under IDB Tsunami Emergency Assistance Programme in Indonesia. Also a MoU was signed by the two parties articulating the Bank's role in supervising the establishment and accommodation of two orphan schools donated by Saudi Charity Campaign for Relief of Tsunami Victims.