EDB-ICD joint partnership announced

The Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on July 9 to promote SME growth in Bahrain. Under the terms of the joint partnership, the ICD will establish an Islamic Ijara Company in Bahrain to help SMEs succeed by offering Sharia-compliant financing products. The proposed Ijara Company will also be used as a training centre to help Bahrainis in the area of Islamic finance. In addition, ICD plans to set up a software development centre in Bahrain for software solutions for Ijara, Takaful, Mortgage and Islamic Banking, for export to the international market. Moreover, the ICD will assess the feasibility of establishing an SME Fund in partnership with the EDB, with the aim of supporting and investing in SMEs based in Bahrain.