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The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) jointly held a live webinar entitled "The Role of AgriTech in Food Security & Sustainability" to discuss sustainable climate-smart agricultural technologies for achieving food and nutrition security. The webinar highlighted the most promising AgriTech solutions to enhance efficiencies of agricultural value chains at the national, regional and global level. The webinar, which was presented in English and included French, Arabic and Russian interpretations, featured panel discussions and presentations by industry experts in the field of Agriculture, AgriTech and Trade Finance. The ITFC will provide technical assistance to farmers and associated agribusinesses to build their capacities to use the digital tools to enhance agricultural productivity. The 2nd webinar, entitled "Digital Supply Chain" will be held on the 25th of November 2020.

IsDB President Dr. Bandar Bin Hajjar stated that the bank was working on a pioneering project to establish a "Global Waqf Centre of Excellence" in Madinah, with a capital of $50 million. The aim of the center is to build a global umbrella for the Waqf sector, linking and coordinating all those interested in Waqf. The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) is preparing to launch the first initiative of the center to grant an approved certificate of Waqf specialist. IRTI is also working on the "Ish’had" platform, which is an e-platform using blockchain technology, to document and protect Waqf properties.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Türk Eximbank signed a syndicated murabaha deal of $100 million to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The new murabaha facility is expected to increase companies' export capacity and workforce, similar to the previous one. According to IsDB, the new facility will play a significant role to alleviate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the manufacturing sector by providing long-term funding to companies to finance their capital expenditures.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Thursday offered financial support to Pakistan amid the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic. In a video call, IsDB President Dr Bandar MH Hajjar assured Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar of the bank’s support for Pakistan. Hajjar informed that the IsDB Group has approved the $2.3 billion package for the IsDB member countries to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar appreciated the special priority given to Pakistan. The minister also underlined the needs of the member countries and applauded Bank’s response.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group has approved a $2.3 billion package for its member countries to mitigate and recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. IsDB President Dr Bandar M H Hajjar said that this will be achieved through a holistic approach aimed to accommodate priorities beyond the immediate and emergency response. Dr Hajjar assured the bank’s full support for the people and the government of Pakistan to mitigate the negative impacts of Covid-19. Pakistan's Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar informed that International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has been directed to immediately finalise $500 million for import of oil and an amount of $150 million has been allocated to alleviate the pandemic impact.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group has set-up a special Strategic Preparedness and Response Facility worth $730 million to mitigate the negative impact of the COVID -19 pandemic. The IsDB Group stated that its entities will support the private sector in responding to the crisis and to minimise its impact on SMEs to sustain economic development. Additionally, the Islamic Cooperation for Development (ICD) shall provide $250 million of emergency funding mainly in the form of medium to long-term financing instruments to help affected sectors. ICD will also be aiding the private healthcare industry of affected member-countries to meet surging need for services, equipment and medicine.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has set up an emergency funding line to tackle the coronavirus crisis. The Strategic Preparedness and Response Facility with a volume of $730mn is established in order to support the member countries and to mitigate the negative health and socio-economic impact of the pandemic. The emergency funding includes $280mn from the IsDB’s Bank and Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development to be used for sovereign projects and programmes, $300mn from IsDB’s division International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to support trade finance among member countries, as well as $150mn to be applied to insurance coverage.

The Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) and the London Stock Exchange Plc (LSE) have both pledged to partner to boost Green Sukuk globally. President of the ISDB, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, met with the CEO of the LSE Plc, Nikhil Rathi, to discuss ways of broadening their collaboration. Green Sukuk has recently emerged as a unique example of a Sharia-compliant impact investing instrument with strong growth prospects. According to the Climate Bonds Initiative, a total of $117.8 billion in green bonds and Sukuk were issued in the first half of 2019, up 48% year-on-year. The Climate Bonds Initiative has also identified the following eligible assets for green Sukuk: solar parks, biogas plants, wind energy projects, renewable transmission and infrastructure projects, and electric vehicles. Equally, they can be used to subsidize a government's green payments.

Nasdaq Dubai welcomed the listing of a US$2 billion Sukuk by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The sukuk was priced at a profit rate of 1.809 percent payable on semi-annual basis. This Sukuk makes IsDB the leading Sukuk issuer by total value on Nasdaq Dubai at $15.64 billion. The first of IsDB’s 12 current Sukuk listings on the exchange was a $1 billion instrument that listed in 2015. The other IsDB listings are three Sukuk of $1.5 billion each, a $1.3 billion Sukuk, four Sukuk of $1.25 billion each, a EUR650 million Sukuk and a EUR1.1 billion Sukuk.

The Islamic Development Bank Group’s President Dr. Bandar Hajjar inaugurated 'the International Day of Education' event at the bank’s headquarters in Jeddah. The aim of this celebration is to support the efforts to achieve the 4th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) of the United Nations relative to education, to provide quality, equitable and inclusive education for all. Today, over 258 million children and young adults are still out of school worldwide, two thirds of them in member countries. There are 617 million children and adolescents who are illiterate and cannot perform basic mathematical operations. In sub-Saharan Africa, the completion rate for the lower secondary level of education is less than 40%, and approximately 4 million children and refugees are out of school. The IsDB supports investment in education and human resources development through numerous programs and projects. Cooperations include the Global Partnership for Education "GPE", UNESCO, the German GIZ, Education Above All, Save the Children, etc.

A high-level delegation of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) re-affirmed their commitment to support Pakistan in their fight against polio. The LLF has prioritized the eradication of polio and contributed over US$ 100 million to the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme. During the visit, the LLF and IsDB team visited the outskirts of Islamabad Capital Territory and participated in the nationwide vaccination campaign which started on December 16, 2019. During this campaign 39.5 million children under the age of five were vaccinated. The LLF is the largest development initiative of its kind and donor partners include the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and Qatar Fund for Development.

Istanbul is hosting a two-day conference to discuss the economic inclusion of young refugees in their host communities. The conference is set to bring together more than 150 stakeholders from the MENA region, policymakers, international and national NGOs, private sector, academia, and entrepreneurs. Participants will discuss various methods for enhancing economic inclusion of refugees and host communities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The two-day program will be held in partnership between the Dutch International NGO Spark and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), with the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as sponsors.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have organised a two-day meeting in Istanbul. Several managers from organizer institutions are giving speeches on many issues such as saving children, poverty in Africa, socio-economic issues, Islamic and alternative finance, innovation and blockchain opportunities and partnership with the private sector. Gerd Trogemann, the manager of UNDP's Istanbul Regional Hub, stressed that all partners have to work together for bringing solutions to development challenges. The partners should go beyond organizational borders and build networks and platforms of partnerships, as each partner has different levels of reach, approaches and solutions.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has hired banks to arrange a new issue of U.S. dollar-denominated sukuk, which is expected to be more than $1 billion in size. Hired banks include Emirates NBD, Standard Chartered, Gulf International Bank and HSBC and the transaction is expected to take place next month. IsDB was last in the market in April this year with a $1.5 billion five-year sukuk deal. It generally issues dollar-denominated bonds twice a year, and last year it also sold its first sukuk denominated in euro. The new transaction will be more than $1 billion in size, with one of the sources saying it could go up to $1.5 billion.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has established an investment fund aimed at curbing Palestinian poverty. The fund will help finance the Palestinian People’s Economic Empowerment Institution. The Palestinian government has given instructions to the Ministry of Social Development to prepare to launch the institution in mid-2019. The poor inside Palestine are the institution’s first target, and priority will be given to areas Israel has targeted with economic restrictions such as Gaza, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, the areas adjacent to the settlements and the West Bank wall. It will also work to empower women and the poor abroad, particularly those living in Palestinian refugee camps.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has been undergoing significant strategic reform in the last year, led by the Bank’s new President, H.E. Dr Bandar Hajjar. The new brand identity maintains the core elements of the IsDB’s heritage while signalling modernity, independence and transparency. The IsDB’s mission includes equipping people to drive their own economic and social progress at scale; putting the necessary infrastructure in place to enable them to fulfil their potential; building collaborative partnerships between public and private sectors. The bank aims to use the latest science, technology and innovation solutions to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is working on finalizing a four-year partnership strategy plan with Turkey. Walid Abdelwahab said the IDB aims to invest in various sectors that will fuel growth, such as infrastructure, energy, transportation and education. He said the bank aims to support value chain development in Turkey to enable the country to become more competitive through linking it with global value chains. He added that the bank appreciates Turkey's experience with high-speed railways. IsDB is preparing a documentary on this topic for other member countries of the Group that are interested in this technology.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has launched 'Engage', a new digital platform to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). IsDB President Dr. Bandar Hajjar announced the launch together with UN Under-Secretary-General of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Dr. Shamshad Akhtar and Dr. Hayat Sindi, Chief Scientific Advisor to IsDB. Engage offers three main services: Match Making, Technology Transfer and Call for Innovation. The platform will focus on six SDGs, food security, healthier lives, inclusive and equitable education, sustainable management of water, access to affordable and clean energy, and sustainable industrialisation across the developing world. IsDB has also established a new Fund, the Transform Fund, which will finance innovative ideas linked to development solutions. A landmark Memorandum of Understanding was signed between IsDB and ESCAP to build a global network of scientists, technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs and investors to achieve sustainable development.

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has launched a new digital platform to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The "Engage" platform's launch was announced in London by the President of IsDB, Dr. Bandar Hajjar, Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, and Dr. Hayat Sindi, Chief Scientific Advisor to IsDB. The platform will focus on six SDGs: achieving greater food security, healthier lives, inclusive and equitable education, sustainable management of water, access to affordable and clean energy, and sustainable industrialisation across the developing world. To ensure its members have access to financing for innovation, IsDB has established a new Fund, called The Transform Fund. It will provide seed money for innovators, start-ups and SMEs, as well as funding partnerships between researchers and entrepreneurs. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between IsDB and ESCAP to work together to achieve sustainable and inclusive development.

A joint initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will boost agriculture and enhance drought resilience in Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda. Stronger ties between the two banks will help ramp up agricultural production along important crop and livestock value chains. For example, in Nigeria the Plateau State Potato Value Chain Support Project of the AfDB and the planned IsDB’s Agro Pastoral Development Project in Kano State will promote higher household incomes through productive agro-pastoral activities. In Somalia, AfDB’s Say No To Famine project is providing emergency assistance support and facilitating drought resilience building through the restoration of community assets.