BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 17. The Islamic Development Bank Group intends to continue expanding its support for Azerbaijan's economic development, Khalid Khalafalla, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and Acting CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), told journalists on the sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
He provided details regarding the newly signed cooperation agreements and future prospects with Azerbaijan. According to the CEO, a total of five cooperation agreements were signed with various Azerbaijani entities during the Private Sector Forum:
"Today, the Private Sector Forum opened as part of the IsDB Group Annual Meeting. The opening ceremony was attended by the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, as well as Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov. We signed five agreements within the framework of the forum."
He noted that the signed documents will serve to expand cooperation in the energy, finance, and investment sectors: "ICD signed a memorandum of understanding with SOCAR to explore and develop financing opportunities in the energy sector, including renewable energy. At the same time, a cooperation agreement was concluded with Azerconnect."
Khalid Khalafalla added that the ICD also signed a term finance agreement worth $20 million with TuranBank: "In addition, a 20 million dollar term finance agreement was signed with TuranBank."
According to him, the framework agreement signed with the Turkic Investment Fund will serve to expand investment opportunities in the region: "The framework agreement signed with the Turkic Investment Fund will support the attraction of potential investments and mobilization of resources in Central Asia."
Additionally, the ICD signed a framework agreement on cooperation with the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund.
"The agreement signed with the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund will open up new opportunities for resource mobilization in Azerbaijan and the region," he revealed.
In his speech, Khalid Khalafalla also spoke about the long-term history of cooperation between the Islamic Development Bank Group and Azerbaijan. He stated that ICIEC actively participates in insuring the country's economic projects.
"Azerbaijan joined ICIEC as its 49th member in 2023. Since then, a total of 164 million dollars worth of business has been insured. Recently, we provided insurance for an important project in the telecommunications sector," he added.
The CEO also emphasized the prospects of cooperation in the transport and infrastructure sectors.
"In the future, we have opportunities to support transport and infrastructure projects in particular. In the past, we supported the export of locomotives from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, and this project serves as an important example for us," he said.
