JAKARTA: On the sidelines of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group’s 41st annual meeting in Jakarta, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed Thursday between the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of IDB Group and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB).

The MoU reaffirms the commitment of BSTDB, a multilateral financial institution headquartered in Thessaloniki, Greece, and ICD to the objective of sustainable economic and social development and emphasizes the importance of effective economic cooperation through undertaking research and capacity-building programs in order to better serve common member countries in the Black Sea region – Albania, Azerbaijan and Turkey. ICD and BSTDB will facilitate trade and investments in these countries through co-financing and co-investment projects and by supporting joint networking opportunities, with the aim of promoting inclusive growth.

In addition, SMEs in the region will also benefit from efforts that will be focused on easing their financial burden, including financing businesses both directly and through financial institutions.

Ihsan Ugur Delikanli, president of BSTDB and Khaled Al Aboodi, CEO and General Manager of ICD, signed the agreement.

During the signing ceremony, Khaled Al-Aboodi expressed his strong support for the partnership.

He said: “ICD and BSTDB are founded on similar principles and mandate, and today’s signing is a step in the right direction to facilitating faster growth of trade and investment opportunities in the Black Sea region. I look forward to both institutions working in a collaborative and complementary way to effectively address some of the needs and concerns of the region.”

Ihsan Ugur Delikanli said: “I believe this collaboration is an important platform to harness the synergies and cooperation potential of our two development financial institutions.”

He said: “I am confident that by working together, we will advance regional economic progress, achieve tangible results, and move forward toward a brighter future.”

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. The BSTDB headquarters are in Thessaloniki, Greece.

BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries.