DHAKA, May 03, 2024 (BSS) - The Annual Meeting of 2024 and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) were held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from April 27-30, 2024.

The Bangladesh delegation led by Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, MP, Minister, Ministry of Finance and Governor of IsDB joined the programmes, said a press release here today.

Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division and Executive Director of the IsDB Board of Directors also attended the events as a member of the Bangladesh delegation.

During this four-day programme, several bilateral meetings were held between Bangladesh delegations and different Saudi-based development partners.

On various occasions, bilateral meetings were held with Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, Chairman of IsDB Group, Eng Faisal M Al-Kahtani, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), and also Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC and acting CEO, ICD.

During these meetings, requests were made from the Bangladesh side to expand the scope of financial and technical cooperation, adoption of a long-term cooperation strategy through a framework agreement, increase concessional loans, decrease the rate of interest, enhance climate resilience and overall, continue financial support for the development activities of Bangladesh.

On April 28, 2024, Finance Minister of Bangladesh participated in a one-on-one dialogue session with the Chief Economist of IsDB Group highlighting the success story of Bangladesh in terms of economic growth and socioeconomic development and the challenges, prospects and policy initiatives for economic diversification in the country.

In a side event on April 29, 2024, the IsDB Group's Member Country Partnership Strategy (MCPS) for the People's Republic of Bangladesh for the period of 2024-2026 has been launched.

The MCPS outlines IsDB's financing plan for Bangladesh for the next three years in alignment with the sectoral development priority of the country. On the same day, a loan agreement titled 'Rural and Peri-Urban Housing Finance Project-Second Phase' amounting Euro 270.57 million was signed between IsDB and the Government of Bangladesh.

This project aims to ensure affordable housing loans for the construction of well-planned, sustainable and eco-friendly multi-storied residential buildings with essential amenities for the low and lower-middle-income population living in rural and peri-urban areas of the country.