BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 18. Azerbaijan will be
among the first countries launching a new Sharia-based SME
financing platform, Head of Line of Finance at the Islamic
Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Ulan
Abylgaziev, said during the 14th Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
Group Private Sector Forum, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
" ICD has launched a new platform to mobilize Sharia-compliant
financing to support small and medium-sized enterprises, with
Azerbaijan becoming one of the first countries to implement it," he
explained.
He noted that cooperation with SME development funds is taking
place in several stages.
"The first stage involved developing the institutional capacity
of our partners.
We began with capacity building, working with the SME fund to
develop their capabilities in providing Islamic finance. They have
now been working in this area for several years and have supported
thousands of SMEs across the country.
The second stage involves discussing the provision of capital in
national currency to expand financing for small and medium-sized
businesses.
The third area of cooperation, he said, is the creation of a
risk-sharing platform.
"We are discussing the creation of a platform jointly with the
SME Fund, where our financing will be supplemented by partial risk
guarantees from the Fund," said Abylgaziev.
He emphasized that similar mechanisms could be scaled up to
other countries, including Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.
"We'll begin with Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and other
participating countries to mobilize investments from like-minded
partners.
Special attention is being paid to integrating financing into
global value chains," he said.
Abylgaziev also announced the launch of a new platform to
attract Sharia-compliant financing for SMEs in participating
countries.
"The initiative aims to expand cooperation between international
development institutions and national funds, as well as to improve
access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses," he
noted.
