UAE Ministry of Finance Participates in 43rd Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Tunisia

Press release
Published April 5th, 2018 - 06:17 GMT
Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs
Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, UAE Minister of State for Financial Affairs

HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, participated in the 43rd Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group held in Tunisia. The meeting was participated by 57 ministers of Finance and Economics of the IDB group members’ countries, and more than 1000 participants representing several Arab, regional and international financial institutions and entities, as well as experts in various economic sectors.

HE Obaid Humaid Al Tayer delivered a speech at the Annual Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Board of Governors meeting, where HE highlighted the strategic partnership between the UAE and IDB. HE praised the effective work and contribution of the Bank in helping Islamic countries to achieve comprehensive development and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing member countries' economies. The bank has financed 8195 development projects in various member countries with a total of $125 billion in key sectors, particularly infrastructure. HE also highlighted the significant achievements of the Group during 2017, where the Bank adopted $9.8 billion to finance 321 operations from various economic sectors to meet the needs and requirements of the member countries.

HE stressed the challenges facing members’ countries, and that overcoming them requires the continuous efforts of IDB to strengthen the cooperation mechanisms in economic and trade fields, and expand the partnerships with the private sector institutions in trade, investment and finance fields. It is also required to continuously work through strengthening partnerships with international multilateral institutions as well as mobilising the necessary resources to overcome economic challenges and achieve sustainable development.

HE also talked about the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) office in the UAE, which serves as a channel for developing the institution’s business; as since its establishment, it has implemented a total of $4.6 billion of insured businesses. HE stressed that the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) announces the opening of its branch in the UAE, where the agreement to open and operate in the UAE was signed in 2016. This will increase the operations of the Corporation, improve revenues and focus on projects and activities that produce and expand trade finance amongst member countries.

In addition to the Board of Governors meeting, the 43rd Annual Meeting of the IDB Group also included the annual meetings of the general assemblies of the affiliated institutions, where the agenda, the annual reports and financial statements of the Group for 2017, the audited accounts of the 2017 financial year were approved. In addition, the transfer of the profit and loss account to the general reserve at the end of 2017 and the approval of the audited accounts of the Waqf Fund, the Endowments Property Fund, the World Endowment Authority, and the Global Endowment Authority for the fiscal year 2019 also took place. They also reviewed a number of reports, particularly a report on the implementation of the ten-year strategy of the Bank Group and the five-year program of the President of the Bank.

The annual meetings also included several specialised scientific seminars to discuss the key issues and challenges faced by member countries, with the aim of establishing strategic partnerships to further drive investment and youth employment, partnership mechanisms to strengthen research and innovation to support the value added in productive sectors, and means of empowering women and developing their capacities. Other topics included seminars related to the role of digital fields and new technologies in achieving sustainable development, as well as seminars on Islamic finance as a new financing mechanism for development and investment also took place. Finally the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the launch of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, in addition to the business forum of the Bank Group on the private sector, as well as other seminars on the challenges faced by member countries such as climate change, were all part of the Annual Meetings.

In 2017, the IDB Group adopted a number of initiatives including the President's Five-Year Programme and the Bank's Science and Technology Innovation Fund, which was developed by the Group with a capital of $500 million, to harness science, technology and innovation to achieve sustainable development in member countries.

IDB started operations in 1975 and has 57 member countries. The Bank is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and supports economic and social development in member countries. IDB includes the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, the Islamic Solidarity Fund and the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI).

The UAE is considered one of the major shareholder in the IDB Group and contributes to 7.5% of the issued capital of KD50 billion, which is equivalent to the SDR unit.

Background Information

UAE Ministry of Finance

The UAE Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responsible for implementing all fiscal, monetary and industrial policies related to the UAE’s economic development. Among its core responsibilities are the preparation and allocation of the Federal Budget and the management of the government’s financial position.

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