IDB’s success deepens Islamic states’ solidarity

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is committed to going ahead with its projects in member states affected by conflicts, said its President Ahmed Mohammed Ali.
He made these remarks at a press conference in Jeddah, attended by Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf.
Ali's remarks came as the IDB celebrates its 40th anniversary with a series of seminars and exhibitions.
Al-Assaf, who is also chairman of the IDB's board of governors, emphasized that the bank has been playing a very effective role in member countries by financing major projects since its establishment.
Since its inception in 1975, the IDB Group's financing has exceeded $100 billion in vital projects, said the finance minister.
When asked about IDB's policy in countries affected by conflicts, Ali said: "IDB's mission is to support development of every member country. We always go ahead and implement projects. We never come back from those countries."
He said: "We will do our best to implement policies in those countries hit by conflicts."
Al-Assaf said IDB has conducted an evaluation of its activities during the meeting of board of executive directors that convened on Sunday at the IDB headquarters in concurrence with the 39th annual meeting of the board of governors of the IDB, to support its member countries better way and praised the IDB president for achieving bank's objectives.
The board commended the extensive facilities being provided by Saudi Arabia for the success of the meeting of the IDB board of governors.
Ali said it is a clear indication IDB works with solidarity.
"IDB based on principles of solidarity, cooperation among member countries in areas of economic development," Ali added.
He also commended Custodian of the Two holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, for their continued support to the bank.
Ali said IDB has played a remarkable role in the economic and social development of its 56 member countries and promoting trade relations among them.
The governors discussed the history of the bank and charted out several frameworks for the next 10 years, he added.
Ali referred to the major IDB event and expressed deep gratitude for the 40th anniversary celebrations.
Earlier, the board of executive directors approved $ 447.6 million toward financing several new development projects in a number of member countries as well as three grants under the IDB Waqf Fund for educational projects for Muslim communities in Kenya, Lesotho, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The major part of the financing, $304 million, went to the energy sector — $220 million for a power grid extension project in Bangladesh and $ 83.75 million for 132 KV Mirama-Kable transmission line and distribution project in Uganda.
Also, a $450,000 technical assistant grant was provided under the IDB Waqf Fund toward capacity development of Laboratory Technicians (microbiology) in seven West African countries - Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Malli, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
The members of the board also approved IDB's continued contribution to the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), Dubai, UAE, as the center represents a successful example of mutual cooperation between the Bank and the UAE.
ICBA has developed into a world-class research center with an international team of scientists and researchers working on innovative solutions to improve the status of poor farmers and to implement development programs aimed at upgrading productivity in agricultural regions.
Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Jeddah on Monday evening to attend the 40th celebrations of the bank on Tuesday.