BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 17. The Islamic
Development Bank Group intends to continue expanding its support
for Azerbaijan's economic development, Khalid Khalafalla, CEO of
the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export
Credit (ICIEC) and Acting CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the
Development of the Private Sector (ICD), told journalists on the
sidelines of the 51st Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development
Bank Group in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.


He provided details regarding the newly signed cooperation
agreements and future prospects with Azerbaijan. According to the
CEO, a total of five cooperation agreements were signed with
various Azerbaijani entities during the Private Sector Forum:


"Today, the Private Sector Forum opened as part of the IsDB
Group Annual Meeting. The opening ceremony was attended by the
Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, as well as
Azerbaijan's Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov. We signed five
agreements within the framework of the forum."


He noted that the signed documents will serve to expand
cooperation in the energy, finance, and investment sectors: "ICD
signed a memorandum of understanding with SOCAR to explore and
develop financing opportunities in the energy sector, including
renewable energy. At the same time, a cooperation agreement was
concluded with Azerconnect."


Khalid Khalafalla added that the ICD also signed a term finance
agreement worth $20 million with TuranBank: "In addition, a 20
million dollar term finance agreement was signed with
TuranBank."


According to him, the framework agreement signed with the Turkic
Investment Fund will serve to expand investment opportunities in
the region: "The framework agreement signed with the Turkic
Investment Fund will support the attraction of potential
investments and mobilization of resources in Central Asia."


Additionally, the ICD signed a framework agreement on
cooperation with the Azerbaijan Business Development Fund.







"The agreement signed with the Azerbaijan Business Development
Fund will open up new opportunities for resource mobilization in
Azerbaijan and the region," he revealed.


In his speech, Khalid Khalafalla also spoke about the long-term
history of cooperation between the Islamic Development Bank Group
and Azerbaijan. He stated that ICIEC actively participates in
insuring the country's economic projects.


"Azerbaijan joined ICIEC as its 49th member in 2023. Since then,
a total of 164 million dollars worth of business has been insured.
Recently, we provided insurance for an important project in the
telecommunications sector," he added.


The CEO also emphasized the prospects of cooperation in the
transport and infrastructure sectors.


"In the future, we have opportunities to support transport and
infrastructure projects in particular. In the past, we supported
the export of locomotives from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, and this
project serves as an important example for us," he said.