ITFC holds 4th General Assembly in Turkmenistan

The meeting was held as part of the 34th Annual Governors Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank. It included a review of the most important developmental steps taken by the corporation since its inauguration a year ago and a discussion of the Board of Directors policy on how to achieve the corporation's objectives.

Dr. Waleed Al Wohaib, CEO of ITFC, delivered a speech at the General Assembly, saying:

"With the formal launch of our operations in Muharram 1429H we established a firm foundation in order to contribute to the development of markets and trading capacities to help member countries do business more effectively, an objective which we have achieved by providing the finance necessary for trade operations and engaging in activities that promote and facilitate intra-trade."

Through its trade finance operations, ITFC strives to raise the volume and value of intra-trade, contribute to market development, and increase export capabilities in the member countries.

In this respect, ITFC initiated and approved 70 trade finance operations with a total value exceeding $2.5bn. Of this amount, $878m, representing 35% of the total came from external mobilization of resources.

In the Asia and CIS countries, ITFC's trade finance operations showed a healthy outlook with a potential for greater expansion in the future. The total value exceeded $1,280m, which provided substantial support to certain sectors in a number of those countries, such as the cotton industry in Tajikistan, and small and medium enterprises and Islamic banks in Turkey.

Dr. Al Wohaib noted that the corporation's objective is to raise people's living standards, which is a critical part of IDB's endeavors to achieve prosperity and push forward the wheel of economic development in Islamic countries.

The ITFC Resource Mobilization arm played a pivotal role in securing the additional funds needed, raising them from 55 global financial institutions and global developmental funds, international banks, and regional and local financial institutions. Dr. Al Wohaib assured the Assembly that the share of mobilized funds in relation to the total value of trade finance was significant and critical in support of those operations in each region that ITFC serves.

In the Asia and CIS, $346.5m, or 27%, was used from externally mobilized resources, while in the MENA region, the amount allocated from externally mobilized resources was $384m, or 43.7%, which represents the highest value of mobilized resources out of all the regions. With regards to Sub-Saharan Africa, the value of externally mobilized resources was $137m, representing 58% of the region's trade finance operations.

Dr Al Wohaib went on to say, "Another fundamental part of our work is carried out through the Trade Cooperation and Promotion Program (TCPP) with its four business lines of Trade Promotion, Trade Facilitation, Capacity Building and the Development of Strategic Commodities. The TCPP's overall mandate is to help member countries increase their export potential, thus contributing to their economic growth and developmental well-being."

During 1429H the TCPP undertook a total of 27 programs in addition to carrying out 35 additional activities, which greatly contributed to trade facilitation as well as capacity building for many trade development centres and institutions in OIC member countries.

Dr. Waleed Al Wohaib concluded by saying, "We at ITFC will continue to make every endeavor in pursuit of our strategic objectives in order to realize the vision of the leaders of the Ummah, which is to promote, facilitate and expand intra-trade, transfer skills through training and build capacity, leading, insha'Allah, to greater economic development and economic integration among our member countries."