Arab News
AN | Published
The 35th board meeting of the Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) was recently held in Casablanca, Morocco.
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) took part in the 35th board meeting of the Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) to review all the initiatives that have been implemented in the previous year and discuss future plans aimed at developing trade among member states.
ITFC’s participation in the event was under the patronage of the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef Al-Othaimeen.
The opening session held on March 7 in Casablanca, Morocco was attended by Hameed Opeloyeru, assistant secretary-general for economic affairs of the OIC; and Rakiya Eddarhem, secretary of state in charge of foreign trade at investment, trade and digital economy, Moroccan Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital Economy.
Keynote speeches were delivered by Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of ITFC, and El-Hassane Hzaine, director-general of ICDT.
Sonbol praised the ICDT’s contribution to supporting development in Islamic countries. He also reviewed the cooperation between the ITFC and ICDT since its inception in 2008.
He said that ITFC is always committed to supporting export and trade finance initiatives serving its member states.
He also highlighted the momentum gained by ITFC’s initiatives since it was launched in 2008.
“To reach the OIC Ten-Year Plan of Action, ITFC has engaged in all initiatives in support of this objective, starting from the annual coordination meeting between the OIC institutions, which is organized periodically in December each year. It also contributes to the activities of the Trade and Investment Subcommittee (TISC), which is overseen by the Islamic Center for Trade Development,” Sonbol said.
He added: “Since 2016, ITFC has been pursuing a new strategy based on integrating its financing and development arms to provide integrated trade solutions and to bring about a significant development impact and thereby benefit our member countries more from the programs and projects that are being implemented for them. Therefore, ITFC has been keen to design and launch initiatives with regional and international dimensions to achieve the desired impact on inter-trade.”
Hzaine, the director general of ICDT, highlighted the strong role ITFC is playing in the international trade industry, notably the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) and Aid for Trade Initiative for Arab States (AfTIAS) programs.
