On the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, the delegation of the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF), led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Zhongjing Wang, met a wide range of partners in Jeddah and discussed deepening cooperation towards the shared vision of promoting high-quality, sustainable connectivity infrastructure investment. MCDF team met with representatives of Bangladesh, Bahrain, Egypt, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, as well as the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), OPEC Fund for International Development, and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang remarked: “I sincerely thank the IsDB and Saudi Arabia for their hospitality and excellent arrangements for the meetings. The IsDB Annual Meetings indeed gave us many new ideas in promoting high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment and networking with colleagues.”

IsDB Vice President for Country Programs, Dr. Mansur Mahtar welcomed the MCDF delegation to the IsDB Annual Meetings and proposed strengthening the joint initiatives started this year on Central Asian Connectivity and identifying more opportunities for the future.

IsDB Vice President for Country Programs, Dr. Mansur Muhtar welcomed MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang to the IsDB Annual Meetings and proposed further deepening of the collaboration between IsDB and MCDF

Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies Mr. Abdulmohsen Alkhalaf welcomed MCDF delegation’s first participation in IsDB Annual Meetings and encouraged MCDF to deepen bilateral cooperation with countries in the Middle East and North African region.

Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Finance Minister for Fiscal Policies Mr. Abdulmohsen Alkhalaf welcomed MCDF delegation’s participation in the IsDB Annual Meetings

In a meeting with Egypt’s Finance Minister, Dr. Mohamed Maait, the importance of supporting South-South cooperation was emphasized to ensure African and Middle Eastern developing countries’ access to international markets and lower costs of financing.

MCDF CEO Mr. Zhongjing Wang and Egypt’s Finance Minister Dr. Mohamed Maait

Qatar’s Finance Minister, Mr. Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, expressed his country’s keen interest in working with MCDF. He offered to facilitate cooperation between MCDF and Qatar Fund for Development.

Mr. Ali Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Finance Minister of Qatar, expressed his country’s interest in working with MCDF

The delegation from Bangladesh led by Mme. Sharifa Khan, Acting Governor and Secretary of the Economic Relations Division in the Ministry of Finance, gave an overview of Bangladesh’s priority pipeline, highlighting sectors including cross-border paperless trade, logistics, automation and multimodal transport that incorporates land and water systems, and invited MCDF to explore cooperation with many Multilateral Development Banks active in Bangladesh.

Delegation of Bangladesh led by Mme. Sharifa Khan, Acting Governor and Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, invited MCDF to explore cooperation with many Multilateral Development Banks active in Bangladesh

Mr. Kerem Donmez, Director General for Foreign Economic Relations at Turkiye’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance discussed with CEO Wang priority connectivity infrastructure projects in Turkiye and potential for institutional cooperation with MCDF and existing MCDF implementing partners.

Mr. Kerem Donmez, Director General for Foreign Economic Relations at Turkiye’s Ministry of Treasury and Finance and MCDF CEO Wang discussed priority connectivity infrastructure projects in Turkiye and potential for cooperation

Mr. Feras Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, Director of International Relations of Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and Economy raised possible cooperation between Bahrain, a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with MCDF in partnership with bilateral GCC Development Funds in sectors such as transportation and power.

MCDF Secretariat members and the officials of the Kingdom of Bahrain discussed possible cooperation between MCDF and the Gulf Cooperation Council Development Fund

Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development stressed that the Fund promotes South-South cooperation with non-OPEC countries. This proximity to the clients ensures much faster delivery of projects.

Discussing possible cooperation between OPEC fund and MCDF, Dr. Abdulhamid Alkhalifa, Director General of the OPEC Fund for International Development stressed that the Fund promotes South-South cooperation with non-OPEC countries.

IsDB’s Annual Meetings 2023 were held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from 10 – 13 May.