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Abu Dhabi - HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs participated in the 41st Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Board of Governors, which officially started yesterday in Jakarta Indonesia. The meeting witnessed the participation of more than 57 countries, along with their excellencies IDB board of governors from finance and economic ministries, general managers of Arabic Islamic financial institutions, representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as financial and economic experts.
The UAE delegation included HE Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Assistant Undersecretary of International Financial Relation at the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and a numbers of heads of departments and specialised employees at the Ministry.
During the meeting, HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer delivered a speech in which he extended his gratitude to Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al-Madani, IDB Group President for the kind reception and hospitality accorded to him and his accompanying delegation. HE Al Tayer then stressed the geopolitical challenges and changes and their impact on the overall development. HE also addressed other challenges witnessed by state members such as the fluctuation in commodity prices and lower growth rates which require assessment by IDB member states, specifically in terms of the impact of these changes. Al Tayer also highlighted the importance of combining efforts to raise the response level of services provided.
HE said: "IDB Group is committed to provide innovative programmes to overcome challenges faced by Muslim countries and benefit from member states' expertise in this respective field. The institutions under IDB's umbrella should work to raise their financial resources, develop financial and funding tools, and monitor reforms implementing within the ten year strategy framework, to ensure meeting the needs of the people, raise standards of living, and achieve integration between development goals and requirements."."
HE Al Tayer concluded his speech by highlighting UAE's commitment to strengthen its partnership strategies with IDB Group and the institutions under its umbrella to support member states' development. HE Al Tayer stressed the importance of IDB Group's achievements in expanding funding activities and growth of its operations, which increased to reach $12.1 million, representing an increase by 13% compared to last year.
Arab, African and Asian representatives from IDB member states discussed in the opening session, a number of topics including economic development within the region, as well as the Bank's role and contributions in this field.
During the meeting, HE Bandar Hajjar, former Minister of Haj in Saudi Arabia, was proposed as the new president of IDB, replacing HE Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali, who has been serving as the president of IDB since 1995.
The meeting also discussed the progress in identifying details of IDB's ten year strategy where the IDB Group's member institutions started implementing the ten year strategy through its plans and short and medium term budgets.
The first and second IDB Group workshops discussed a number of topics, particularly the 41 IDB annual report, the approval of annual audited accounts for IDB and Endowment Fund in 1436H (2014-2015), selecting the external auditors for IBD, Waqf Fund and Awqaf properties investment fund as well as Waqf international organisations. A percentage of IDB's net income will be allocated for technical assistance operations and scholarship programmes for bright student in member countries, and Islamic financial services industry for 1436H (2014-2015).
The meeting addressed number of elements including decisions and procedures related to IDB Group' member institutions that included:
The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC):
The institution disclosed its revised organisational structure and its effort towards employees' adaptation to the new structure, by reevaluating employees to place them place in suitable roles according to their skills and competencies.
Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD):
The institution will build its financial capacity to achieve operational growth, receive shareholders' support and secure strong credit rating for resource mobilisation.
International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation: (IFC)
The institution seeks to implement its strategy through its role in supporting the IDB Group's ten year strategy and the objectives of intra-regional trade of Organisation of Islamic Corporation (OIC).
Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD)
The performance procedures were reviewed compared to last year's performance results in order to achieve desired outcomes. These procedures are concentrated on enhancing the operational efficiency, strengthening governance, developing organisational skills, managing human resources' capital as well as achieving financial sustainability.
IDB prizes for: Women's Contribution to Development, and Science & Technology (S&T):
The first day of IDB meetings was concluded with a special dinner from the Government of Indonesia, during which winners were presented with the IDB prize for Women's Contribution to Development as well as Science and Technology.
The UAE is keen to participate in the Annual Meetings of IDB Board of Governors meetings as it offers a platform to discuss financial and economic plans and develop future strategies in order to achieve sustainable economic development, as well as reduce poverty and unemployment in all IDB member countries and the Islamic world. The UAE is considered the fourth biggest contributor in the bank's capital with a rate of 7.54%, where UAE hosts multiple IDB Group headquarters and office branches including ICIEC, IFC and International Islamic Centre for Reconciliation and Arbitration (IICRA).
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© Press Release 2016
