IDB Worries Over Huge Number Of Islamic Nations Facing Fragile Economy

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is worried that out of 50 nations of the world experiencing fragile economy, 24 members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) are worse hit.
The President of IDB, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali who expressed this worry said: “our member countries are in a real danger of being left behind.  Currently, 24 of the 50 most fragile countries are OIC member countries.”
The IDB President spoke today at a high level meeting at the headquarters of IDB in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the umbrella of IDB President’s Advisory Panel (PAP).
President’s Advisory Panel is an advisory body of global experts that work with the IDB President to provide independent advice on the overall strategy of the IDB, as well as give input into the policy direction of the Bank for the benefit of member countries. The theme for the panel this year is: “Digital Development for Resilience.”
Opening the PAP meeting, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali feared that fragility is threatening the world economy now.
“Fragility threatens human development. We therefore have to find innovative means to address fragility by increasing levels of resilience in our communities.”
He said that IDB is interested in creating awareness on the potential role of Islamic finance for fragile communities which leading global experts also said would provide a key solution to fragile economies in Islamic Development Bank’s (IDB) member countries and beyond.
In his remarks, former President of Turkey, Dr. Abdullah Gul commended IDB in its effort to use Islamic Finance to address the challenges outlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which includes fragility.
He suggested to IDB to help member countries to achieve digital development by sharing experiences and providing financing, citing the example of a good practice from the Republic of Turkey where the use of e-government (i.e. e-visa services) served 30 million visitors in the last three years.
Dr. Abdullah Gul said: “we have not fully exploited the industrial revolution, but we can still take advantage of the digital wave.”
In his intervention during the panel discussion, Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus said that the leading technology firms in the world are using technology for profit making and asked IDB to work with member countries to use digital technology and Islamic micro-finance as a social driver, so that people will create jobs by themselves.
Professor Abbas Mirakhor, former Executive Director and Dean of the Executive Board of International Monetary Fund (IMF), encouraged IDB to work with member countries to address fragility through a policy framework that will integrate Islamic finance in national budgets.
On his part, Dr. Jobarah Al-Suraisry, former KSA Minister of Transportation called for the establishment of a “Digital Fund” in order to address the imbalance between the developed and developing countries.
In her contribution, Madam Bintou Sanogoh, former Minister of Finance of Burkina Faso said that digital development can help low income countries to become middle income “if we can improve connectivity.
Members of the President’s Advisory Panel who attended the event today are Dr. Abdullah Gul who id the immediate past President of Turkey, former Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and one time Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic; Dr Jobarah Al-Suraisry who is former Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Transportation, former Vice Minister of Finance & Economy; Madam Aïcha Bah Diallo who was former Minister of education in Guinea-Conakry, and was a Chair of the Network Education for All in Africa. She is an advisor to the Director General of UNESCO, and a member of IDB women Advisory Panel.
There were also Madam Bintou Sanogoh who was former Minister of Finance in Burkina Faso, and the country’s Governor at the IMF/World Bank, and was formally a Vice Governor of the African Development Bank; Dr. Jacques Diouf who was former Director General, Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO), and former Secretary-General of the Central Bank of West Africa as well as Mr. Abdul Aziz Al-Zaabi who is a member of UAE Federal National Council, former CEO & GM of Real Estate Bank, and an Ex-Director of Arab Insurance Bank.
Dr. Ishrat Husain, a former Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, Dean and Director of the Institute of Adminsitration, and Chairman National Commission of Government Reform and Professor Abbas Mirakhor, first holder of INCIEF Chair of Islamic Finance, former Executive Director and Dean of the Executive Board of International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as Professor Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate and founder Grameen Bank, a pioneer in microcredit scheme, and Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University and Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of the Central Bank of Morocco, former Chairman of Bank Al-Magrib, and Director Arab British Commercial Bank are also members. [myad]