Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - A press conference was held on the opening of a number of events planned as part of the 46th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The speakers were the President of the IDB Muhammad al-Jasser, and the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank Group, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sardor Umurzakov. Also during the conference, the Minister of Investment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Khalid al-Falih made a video message.

During the event, representatives of the public and the media were informed about the results achieved by the IDB Group in stimulating the socio-economic development of member countries during 2020 in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, supporting member countries in solving problems and constraints, related to the coronavirus pandemic, and also talked about the challenges facing the Bank this year.

The speakers indicated that the Annual Meeting, held this year under the slogan "Response, Recovery and Restart", provides the Bank’s member countries with an excellent opportunity to develop a common agenda to address a number of pressing issues related to ensuring economic growth, stimulating investment and the development of international trade.

As part of the event, the IDB presented a reporting digest on the results of the Bank’s activities in 2020. In particular, it was indicated that despite the challenges associated with the pandemic in 2020, in total, the IDB and its subsidiaries have allocated about US$6.8 billion to support sustainable development in the member countries of the Bank. In addition, the Strategic Preparedness and Response Program has created a separate US$2.3 billion funding package to help member countries cope with the impact of the pandemic.

During the videoconference, media representatives had the opportunity to ask questions and communicate with speakers on topical issues on the agenda. In particular, the journalists were interested in the prospects for expanding cooperation between the IDB and Uzbekistan, new joint initiatives and projects, as well as prerequisites for the further implementation of the IDB instruments for financing commercial banks and private companies in the country.

At the end of the press conference, a ceremony of signing a number of documents took place. Thus, in particular, a Memorandum of Understanding on Potential Cooperation on the establishment of a Fund for Expanding Economic Opportunities of Uzbekistan was signed. The objectives of the Fund will be to support youth and women’s entrepreneurship, as well as investing in small and medium-sized businesses and start-up projects. It is expected that the Fund, whose capital is planned to be increased to US$500 million in the future, will become an effective platform for providing financial and technical assistance to entrepreneurs in launching new projects and initiatives. The IDB, as well as the governments of Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia will become shareholders of the Fund.

The fund will support the efforts of the government of Uzbekistan to reduce poverty. According to preliminary estimates, the activities of the Fund will allow in the future to create more than 100 thousand new jobs in the country and provide support in the restoration of the activities of about 34 thousand small and medium-sized businesses in Uzbekistan.

Also, the signing and exchange of relevant letters of intent between the Islamic Development Bank and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan took place.