JEDDAH, 6th February, 2017 (WAM) -- The Board of Executive Directors of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has approved US$790 million for new development projects in member countries as well as education and professional training for Muslim communities in non-member countries.

The approval was given at board's 317th meeting held under the chairmanship of bank's Group President, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, in Jeddah.

An amount of US$488 million was approved for two development projects in Indonesia; US$250 million will be provided for development of Trans South-South Java road, and US$238 million for development and improvement of six Islamic higher education institutions.

To promote food security in Africas Sahel region, the Board agreed to allocate US $96 million for Sahel Sustainable Pastoralism Development Programme in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mali.

Other approvals of the Board included: US $155.5 million for the Prepayment Metering System Project in Bangladesh; US $40 million for Support of Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT) HIV/AIDS Project in Cameroon; US$10 million for Higher Education in Science and Engineering Project in Togo; as well as US$600,000 as special assistance operations under the IsDB Waqf Fund to contribute to educational and vocational projects in Belgium, Brazil and United States.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2017.