D-8 Secretary-General Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari visited the headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah on 7thAugust, 2019 and met with the Vice president, Country program H.E Dr. Mansur Mukhtar.

The Secretary-General thanks the Vice President of hosting him on behalf of the President of bank, H.E Dr. Bandar Hajjar and appreciated the warm reception and generous hospitality accorded to him during his visit.

He briefed the vice president on the various sectoral tracks of cooperation as well as new initiatives such as D-8 Health and Social Protection Programme, D-8 creative Economy and Financial Center, D-8 Payment card System, D-8 Industrial Zones and D-8 Barter Trading Mechanism.
Ambassador Ku Shaari solicited the Cooperation and support of IsDB for D-8 Health and Social Protection programme in form of funding streams. He also sought for cooperation with IsDB on the D-8 Creative Economy and Financial Center and the Project Support Fund.
Furthermore, the Secretary-General proposed an addendum to the existing MoU between the two organizations in order to incorporate the D-8 Health and Social Protection programme.
The vice president appreciated the efforts of the Secretary-General and expressed his optimism for the success of his endeavors. He also praised the Secretary-General for striving to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for the upliftment of the Member States and assured him of IsDB’s cooperation and support in this regard.

Dr. Mukhtar also showed keen interest in broadening the existing framework of cooperation between the two Organizations and committed IsDB to providing support to the D-8 in various areas such as partnerships, equity-based projects and data intelligence.

During the visit, the Secretary-General also met with officials of various departments of the Bank as well as those of the institutions of the IsDB. They include:
• Global Partnership and Resource Mobilization
• Global Management Health Economic and Social Infrastructure Department
• Islamic Financial Sector Development Department
• Capacity Development Department (Reverse Linkages)
• International Islamic Trade Finance Cooperation (ITFC)
• Islamic Cooperation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD)
The officials of the Bank briefed the Secretary-General of the activities of their departments and showed willingness to share their best practices and experiences and deepen the existing cooperation with the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation.

The Secretary-General applauded the professionalism of the officials and their contributions to the well being of the Muslim Ummah. He also praised the new practical approach of the Bank and the role of the officials in its successful implementations. Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar briefed the officials on the initiatives and projects of common interest and expressed his desire to gain the support of the Bank.
Secretary-General expressed the hope to develop an excellent working relation with all the departments of the Bank and utilize their skills and expertise in order to advance the cause of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation.

The delegation of the Secretary-General comprised of the Secretariat officials, the adviser to the Secretary-General on D-8 Health Partnership and Social Protection Programme as well as the officials of the Al Hidayah Group that is leading the D-8 Creative Economy and Financial Center initiative.