JEDDAH, 25 June 2005 — Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali has been re-elected president of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for another five years, the Saudi Press Agency said.
The bank’s board of governors, who concluded their meeting in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya yesterday, took the decision.
Finance Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf said Saudi Arabia had recommended that Ali’s term be renewed. “We have presented a proposal officially to Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, current chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to renew Dr. Ali’s term for another five years,” he told reporters.
Al-Assaf, who led the Kingdom’s delegation to the conference, commended IDB’s achievements in strengthening economic, trade and investment cooperation among the 57-member OIC countries.
The finance minister reiterated Saudi Arabia’s support for the IDB, which he said was a pioneering experience for joint Islamic work.
Al-Assaf urged Muslim countries to contribute to the $1 billion emergency fund pledged five years ago to help the Palestinian people.
Al-Assaf, who chairs the Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds funds, urged IDB member states to provide additional resources to the two funds.
“By June 2005, total contributions to the two funds amounted to $738 million,” he told a meeting of the board of governors of the IDB, the financial arm of the OIC.
The Al-Aqsa and Al-Quds Funds were established with a $1 billion pledge by the Arab League in 2000 to provide the Palestinian people with emergency aid. The funds focus on providing financial assistance for education, health care and infrastructure.
Al-Assaf said that so far the two funds had approved projects and programs valued at $262 million.
Joining the appeal, IDB President Ali said Palestinians needed the support of the Muslim world. “The segregation wall is devastating every aspect of Palestinian life. People have become prisoners in their own homes... and 50 percent of the people live below the poverty line,” he said.
The board meeting also approved the establishment of an International Islamic Corporation for Trade Finance, which was originally proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah.
The meeting approved the accounts of IDB, the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investments and Export Credits, and the Islamic Corporation for Private Sector Development.