DUSHANBE, February 16, 2012, Asia-Plus – On Wednesday February 15, Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi met here with Hisham Taleb Maruf, Head of the Regional Office of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
According to the Tajik MFA information department, the sides discussed issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and IsDB.
Participation of the IsDB in implementation of future large infrastructure development projects in Tajikistan and support for development of Tajikistan’s banking sector, including microfinance and financing of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Tajikistan, were the focus of the meeting.
It is to be noted that as of December 31, 2011, the Islamic Development Bank Group approved operations totaling some 211 million U.S. dollars.
Tajikistan joined the Islamic Development Bank in 1996 and since that time, the Bank has financed 44 investment projects covering health, educational transportation, energy and agrarian sectors.
The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is a multilateral development financing institution located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was founded by the first conference of Finance Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC, now the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), convened on December 18, 1973. The bank officially began its activities on December 20, 1975. There are 56 shareholding member states. On the basis of paid-up capital, the major shareholders of the Bank are, among others: Saudi Arabia; Libya; Iran; Egypt; Kuwait; Turkey; Qatar; UAE; and Nigeria.
The IsDB is also a United Nations General Assembly observer.
IsDB has evolved into a Group of five Entities, consisting of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
