The Islamic Development Bank looking into its 1440H vision

The workshop discussed the world in 1440H and beyond, identified strategic challenges and key development issues faced by the Bank and proposed the Banks role in the future. The two day workshop was hosted by the Government of the United Arab Emirates on 13-14 Sep, 2005 in the city of Dubai.

A commission of 12 eminent personalities and delegates from the 19 IDB member countries in the MENA region, and personalities from communities in non member countries attended the workshop, including H.E. Prof. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, former President of Indonesia, and Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, IDB President.

The role of the 12 eminent personalities, which constitutes the Vision Commission chaired by H.E. the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, is to advise the Bank on how to position itself in the new economic and political realities facing the Muslim world. The Bank proudly calls this exercise the 'IDB 1440H Vision' initiative.

To solicit regional perspectives and identify regional challenges and opportunities, four regional workshops are being held in major cities of the Muslim world. The first one for Asia region plus Suriname was held in Kuala Lumpur on 24 and 25 June 2005 and participated by six countries.

The second one held in Almaty on 2 August 2005 was for ECO countries and European countries, which was attended by ten countries. The third workshop for the Middle East and North Africa region was held in Dubai on 13 September 2005 and participated by representatives of 19 countries. The fourth workshop will be held in Ouagadougou for Sub-Saharan African countries on 1 October 2005.

The Dubai workshop, which was officiated by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Khalfan Bin Khirbash, UAE Minister of state for Finance and Industry, was a forum to facilitate better comprehension of the global economic changes facing the region and how to reap benefit from the great potential of Middle Eastern and North African countries in the new global economic framework. In the same vein, participants urged the Bank to promote a vision based on Islamic values which should embody the elements of unity and solidarity, interdependency, integration and complimentarity.

The importance of regional integration was also emphasized where the Bank is encouraged to finance infrastructure projects that connect its MENA member countries and funding for these projects should be facilitated through more innovative resource mobilization schemes. In the same time, the Bank is challenged to help in the harmonization of the regions legal infrastructure to facilitate easier movement of human and capital resources.

In his remarks during the first Vision Commission meeting on 14 September 2005, the Commission Chairman, Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, mentioned the importance to emphasize on the common issues faced by Ummah, which include poverty, education and the empowerment of women. He also mentioned the fact that each and every country, be it poor or rich, always has some kind of wealth and it is up to the country to discover the source of its wealth and how to develop it.

The Vision Commission will deliberate on the proposals discussed during its next meeting and undertake road shows for ideas of the Vision in the coming years.