IDB, WB eye $1.9 trillion Islamic finance market

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank are to use the Islamic finance market for infrastructure development projects through public-private partnerships (PPP). The IDB recently organized a forum in Washington in partnership with the World Bank on this subject. The World Bank suggested that the Islamic financial market has reached $1.9 trillion over the past six decades. IDB spokesperson Dr. Abdul-Hakim Elwaer said the aim of the forum was to create awareness about the potential for infrastructure development through PPP. This falls in line with the new development orientations of IDB member countries. For example, Saudi Arabia is targeting to increase the private sector’s contribution to the GDP from 40 to 65%. The Kingdom aims to achieve this through increasing the use of PPPs and through the privatization of government entities.