A high level ECO delegation headed by the ECO Secretary General H.E. Mr. Halil Ibrahim Akca visited the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG) Headquarters in Jeddah from 19- 22 August 2017. The main objective of visit was to enhance cooperation between the two organizations.
A high level ECO delegation headed by the ECO Secretary General H.E. Mr. Halil Ibrahim Akca visited the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG) Headquarters in Jeddah from 19- 22 August 2017. The main objective of visit was to enhance cooperation between the two organizations.
During the visit and on 20th August 2017, the ECO Secretary General held bilateral talks with His Excellency Dr. Bandar Bin Mohamed Hamza Hajjar, President of Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG), where cooperation arrangements as well as areas of mutual interest were discussed. Highlighting the fact that all ECO Member States are also members of IDB, there was a consensus to enhance mutual cooperation to advanced levels, especially under the new “Regional Cooperation and Integration Strategy” being finalized by the IsDB.
ECO Secretary General later held meetings with IsDB Vice Presidents Dr. Mansur Mutar and Mr. Sayed Aqa separately, exchanging views on cooperation in various sectoral and thematic areas and ongoing projects.
The ECO delegation also held detailed meetings with the heads and representatives of different departments of the Bank and discussed with them the ongoing projects, new project proposals prepared by the ECO Secretariat, as had been shared earlier with IsDB, and prospective new areas for mutual cooperation.
The ECO delegation also held useful meeting with the representatives of the members of Islamic Development Group, including “The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)”, “The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC)”, and “The Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD)”. The representatives of the agencies showed their keenness to develop mutual programmes for cooperation in areas of trade, investment, reinsurance, tourism and agriculture.
The visit was very successful and it was decided to enhance the relationship between the agencies. The visit ended with the signing of an agreement between Islamic Development Bank and Economic Cooperation Organization concerning the Study for the “Commercialization of the Regional Railway Corridor between ISDB-ECO Common Member Countries”.
