OREANDA-NEWS. April 26, 2010. The presentation of the specialized organisations of the Islamic Development Bank was held during the visit of the IDB delegation to Turkmenistan. This meeting brought together the representatives of the sectoral ministries and departments, the banking institutions and journalists in the conference hall of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan.

The representatives of the Islamic Development Bank made the presentations on the activities, largest structural organisations and special programmes of the Bank and the major principles and lines of financing. As is known, the IDB was founded by the first conference of Finance Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1973. The Bank’s main goal is financial cooperation to promote social and economic development of the IDB member countries.

It was noted that Turkmenistan and the Islamic Development Bank maintained constructive and fruitful cooperation. Long-term partnership had resulted in implementing a number of successful joint projects in such fields as transport, health care, construction and education and the programmes aimed at promoting private sector development.

The recent large-scale projects launched in Turkmenistan with the assistance of the IDB included construction of the Bereket-Etrek section of the Gyzylgaya-Bereket-Etrek railroad that was a part of the North-South transnational corridor. As is known, this project was launched on the initiative of President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Underscoring the significance of ongoing economic reforms in Turkmenistan, the IDB experts highly evaluated the high pace of development of Turkmen economy, the increasing potential of which provided the reliable guarantees of further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation.

The foreign specialists briefed the participants on the activities of the Institute for Research and Training, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Secto, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation affiliated in the IDB group.

During the roundtable with the Turkmen businessmen the representatives of the Islamic Corporation for the private sector development discussed a possibility to draft a joint programme to encourage small and medium-sized businesses in Turkmenistan through IDB’s financing.