JEDDAH: The Joint Technical Group of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and Sulaiman Al-Rajhi Finance and Development Foundation held a meeting on 31st October at THIQAH Office in Jeddah to explore opportunities for collaboration, to discover possible areas of partnership and to share experiences.
Dr. Waleed Alwaheeb, the Director General of ISFD, said “This cooperation brings complementarity between our organizations to realize a common vision, a vision of providing demonstrable development impact to achieve sustainable results. Through this collaboration, we agreed on concrete initiatives and work jointly in supporting the community.”
The partnership initially focused on strengthening cooperation in a number of initiatives such as the establishment of the Economic Empowerment Fund for Saudi Arabia including initiatives in the areas of education, housing and Awqaf.
Mohammed Al- Khamis, CEO of Sulaiman Al-Rajhi Finance and Development Foundation said, “The Meeting was a great opportunity for us to explore cooperation with the multilateral development organizations such as IsDB and ISFD. We look forward to strengthening the relationship as IsDB and ISFD have always been committed to catalyzing new approaches to funding economic and social development in its member countries around the world. I am confident that this partnership will inject new resources and bring momentum to the community development projects in the Kingdom.”
During the meeting, a series of presentations have been made on the World Waqf Center of Excellence in Al Madinah Al Maunawarah, Ihsan Waqf Investment Fund, Education and Housing initiatives, JANA Center, Awqaf Properties Investment Fund (APIF), IsDB initiative to finance Awqaf Projects in Saudi Arabia, Economic Empowerment Fund for Saudi Arabia and Economic Empowerment Fund International. These presentations have been made by Adil AlSharif, Mahanna Sobieh, Mohammad Jawabreh, Mohamed Ali Chatti and Khemais El Gazzah respectively.
In conclusion, the meeting included the criteria for identifying follow-up procedures by nominating representatives from IsDB Group and Sulaiman Al-Rajhi Finance and Development Foundation.
