BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 18. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group has approved a total of $1.8 billion for Azerbaijan since 1992, said Chairman of the IsDB Group Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the IsDB Annual Meetings 2026 in Baku, he noted that from the ancient Silk Road to today's Middle Corridor, Azerbaijan has for centuries linked East and West, North and South, transforming geography into shared opportunity.
“Yet Azerbaijan's story is not only one of connectivity, it is also a story of resilience and renewal. We are proud to be the first multilateral development bank to visit liberated Karabakh, reaffirming our commitment to Azerbaijan's reconstruction and development. And since Azerbaijan joined the bank in 1992, our cooperation has flourished with the Islamic Development Bank Group, approving approximately $1.8 billion for 84 projects in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and social services. Projects like the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Alat Free Economic Zone are not isolated national projects. They are regional arteries of trade that perfectly embody our Annual Meetings’ theme, “Regional integration for sustainable prosperity”,” he noted.
Al Jasser went on to add that the IsDB Group’s ambitions for regional integration and shared prosperity are unfolding in a global environment tested by inflation, conflict, and supply chain disruptions.
“Despite broader global resilience, the economic outlook remains fragile. While growth in our member countries is projected to outpace global and emerging market averages, this aggregate performance masks a harsher reality. Our most vulnerable economies still face a difficult road ahead. It is in this challenging context that the Islamic Development Bank Group has stepped up its response. In 2025, total financing approvals increased by 20% to nearly $16 billion, bringing cumulative approvals since inception to $209 billion. But commitments alone are not enough. Impact depends on delivery. We therefore also strengthened our execution, increasing disbursements to $11 billion compared to $9.2 billion in 2024. At the Islamic Development Bank, the $5.7 billion in approvals targeted priority sectors with 46% for transport and connectivity, 20% for water and urban services, and 16% for health financing. Our group affiliates further amplified this momentum,” he added.
