The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) will provide $40 million to Tajikistan for financing of import of gasoline and diesel fuel into the country, Asia-Plus reported with the reference to Regiony Rossii (Regions of Russia).
ITFC CEO Dr Waleed Al-Wahaib was quoted as saying that the agreement was part of the Corporation's strategy for the coming year on expanding the volume of trade finance for the CIS nations.
Tajikistan is currently experiencing shortage of energy resources due to its geographical location and import of oil products into country will be organized under the signed agreement, ITFC CEO noted.
We will recall that Tajikistan was exempted from paying Russian tariffs on oil and gas exports from 1995-2010. On May 1, 2010, Russia cancelled Tajikistan's tax exemption and the Russian government has regulated the export duty on light oil since the beginning of last year. A sudden spike was reported in May 2011, when export duty for Russian gasoline rose 44 percent as compared with April.
Over the first six months of this year, Tajikistan has reportedly imported 168,900 tons of oil products for 196.9 million U.S. dollars, including 78,700 tons of gasoline for $92.2 million.
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) is the culmination of a 30-year pioneering commitment by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) to develop and expand intra-OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) trade.
Since its inception in 1975, the overriding aim of the Islamic Development Bank has been to improve the lives of ordinary people across the Islamic world by eradicating poverty, raising economic standards and increasing prosperity within the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). IsDB recognized that this goal could only be achieved by advancing trade within the Islamic world and the development of intra-trade between OIC member countries has been fundamental to this process.
The ITFC was established in response to calls for an increase and acceleration of intra-trade within a unified market-driven corporation operating autonomously under the IDB Group umbrella.
The first formal proposal was made by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques during the 10th OIC Summit held in Putrajaya, Malaysia in 2003 and supported the following year by the United Arab Emirates at an IsDB Board of Governors Meeting in Iran. The ITFC was mandated to streamline and consolidate operations within the IsDB that had been carried out through multiple programs under the Bank's Trade Finance and Promotion Department (TFPD).
The creation of the ITFC was approved by the Board of Governors of the IDB Group at its 30th annual meeting in Malaysia in June 2005. The corporation's Articles of Agreement were signed the following year in Kuwait. The ITFC became operational on January 10, 2008 and integrated the activities and operations of all the IsDB Group's various trade finance programs into its overall operations. The ITFC was formally inaugurated on June 3, 2008 at the IsDB's 33rd Annual Board of Governors Meeting held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.