JEDDAH, 10 March 2008 — The private sector in the member countries of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) can look forward to greater assistance from the IDB’s arm — Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD).
This follows a proactive stand newly taken by the ICD under the direction of its new Chief Executive Officer Khaled M. Al-Aboodi.
“Over the years, we examined and assisted the projects that came to us. But now, additionally, we have become more proactive. We explore the prospects, identify them and facilitate financial assistance in our member-countries,” Al-Aboodi told Arab News in an interview yesterday. Al-Aboodi, who assumed charge on Oct. 1, 2007, was previously the deputy general manager of ICD.
Al-Aboodi said that the ICD had initiated certain real estate as well as banking and investment projects in Saudi Arabia and various member countries.
Ewaan Realty Firm, is a new real estate firm capitalized at SR400 million that was launched in Jeddah on Dec. 3, 2007. Ewaan International Housing Company is now all set to unveil its maiden project. “We are focusing on fund management. The first SR300 million fund for Ewaan’s real estate project will be issued by June-July,” he said, adding that Ewaan has already acquired 1.1 million square meters land at Dahban, north of Jeddah. The project will include 3,000 housing units.
Ewaan’s vision is to construct housing complexes in various areas in Saudi Arabia for the low and middle-income segments and develop houses in the most efficient and effective way with a view to providing fair price for investors and end users.
Ewaan plans to increase the real estate perception and understanding in the Kingdom through opening new channels for investors, especially with the region experiencing high liquidity and facing limited investment channels. “What is more, Ewaan has strong ambitions to evolve quickly as a major local and regional player in the booming real estate market,” Al-Aboodi said. “Our aim is to crate landmark property-based investment portfolios in the Kingdom and across the GCC states,” he added.
Al-Aboodi also spoke about making available mortgage finance. “This will come in due course as mortgage laws are framed,” he said.
Referring to some of the new overseas projects, he said, ICD has initiated the establishment of a bank in Maldives and a feasibility study for the project is in progress. “What is more, we are also doing feasibility studies for sukuk issues of banks in Mauritania and Indonesia. In a new move, ICD has also initiated an Islamic investment bank in Azerbaijan. This followed an invitation extended to ICD by investors, following the investment conference organized by IDB in 2006.
He claimed that the ICD had successfully penetrated into the markets of 19 Islamic countries, proving its economic and financial viability. ICD posted $16.7 million profit in 2006, with shareholders’ equity of $352.5 million compared to $300 million paid-up capital in the preceding year, or 17.5 percent added value for the shareholders.
Al-Aboodi said that ICD looked at each project and advanced funds depending on its merits. “IDB created ICD because it felt the need for an agency to finance only the private sector,” said Al-Aboodi who began his career with the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Finance in 1982.
He also worked as an acting director of the international Financial Institutions Department till 1995 when he moved to Washington DC to serve as adviser to the Saudi Representative Office at the World Bank. He was appointed an alternate executive director for Saudi Arabia at the World Bank board in 1997.
Al-Aboodi is also the chairman of the board of International Islamic Rating Agency (IIRA) and member of the board of many banks and companies. The mission of IIRA, whose shareholders include IDB and ICD, is to provide rating services to mainly Islamic financial institutions and corporations as well as member-countries. IIRA, which is set for its launch this month, will do two kinds of rating — technical which will analyze the ability of an underlined identity like any other rating agency and, second, Shariah compatibility, he added.
