Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 26 / Trend A.Tagiyeva /
As a result of 287th session of the board of executive directors of the Islamic Development Bank, held in Jeddah and chaired by IDB President Ahmad Mohamed, the bank is going to increase its authorised capital for the fifth time, the bank's report published on its official website on Wednesday says.
The final decision on increasing the authorised capital will be made at a meeting of the Ministers of Finance, Economy and Planning of the bank's member states of the bank to be held on May 21-22 in Dushanbe.
The session also decided to increase support for the development of the Islamic financial services industry in member states. To this end, the IDB plans to provide funding for projects aimed at supporting this sector.
Furthermore, it was decided to allocate $56 million for the reconstruction of the Al-Azhar University hospital in Egypt and the implementation of a project on employment of women in Senegal and Benin.
Azerbaijan joined the IDB in 1992. The banks' first operation in the country was held in May 1991, prior to its membership. The shareholding in the bank's capital is 0.13 percent.
Azerbaijan is also a member of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) which is the investment division of the IDB. This group includes the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI).
The IDB finances projects in various industries of Azerbaijan, with a focus on the energy sector (57.2 per cent) and agriculture (17.3 per cent).
The IDB portfolio in Azerbaijan today is $1.2 billion. The bank is currently conducting operations worth $1.4 billion in Azerbaijan in the framework of cooperation for the period 2011-2013. The programme consists of approximately 13 projects.