JEDDAH, 20 June 2003 — The Islamic Development Bank’s two-day symposium on strategic planning and organization ended on Wednesday. IDB President Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali declared poverty alleviation a key issue.
“Combating poverty is in the forefront of our priorities,” Ali said in his opening remarks on Tuesday. “There are many means at our disposal for combating poverty and we should use them.”
He said the IDB had been setting its objectives based on the guiding principle stipulated at its inception on Oct. 20, 1975. “Certainly, the IDB will seek to respond to changes, but these changes will be in accordance with the directives and guidance set at the time of the IDB’s foundation,” he said.
In order to meet the growing and diverse needs of its member countries, the IDB, an international development financing institution, established a number of institutions and schemes with distinct administrative arrangements and operational rules.
“These institutions and schemes enable the bank to mobilize supplementary financial resources according to Shariah principles and to focus on functions and activities that cannot be covered under its normal financing arrangements. The bank has thus evolved over time into a group,” he said.
“Each affiliated organization of the group will work out its strategic plans. The basic objectives of the IDB will remain the guiding principle of the group’s operation to consolidate cooperation of member countries,” he added.
