Islamic organizations to host international financing symposium in Istanbul

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) will jointly organize an International Symposium on Financing for Development on Nov. 22-23 in Turkey’s Istanbul.

SESRIC is a subsidiary organ of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and IsDB is one of the world's largest multilateral development banks that has been working for over 40 years to improve the lives of the communities that it serves by delivering impact at scale

The symposium will be held under the theme of "Thinking Innovative Solutions to Persist Development Challenges" and attended by representatives of national institutions, international and regional organizations, the private sector and academia.

“The event will provide an important platform for discussing the problems and alternative solutions related to financing for development in OIC countries,” according to a press release.

“The current 56 member countries of the OIC are highly diverse in terms of their level of economic development and many of them require a substantial amount of resources to finance their development. Due mainly to lack of adequate resources and ineffective use of existing resources, these countries continue to face persistent development challenges. On the other hand, there are also a growing number of OIC member countries that have been active in supporting development in other developing countries, but their role in development assistance is not properly recognized at global levels.

“In order to address the challenges on financing for development, alternative mechanisms have being discussed across the globe. A particularly strong mechanism that becomes increasingly popular is the Islamic finance instruments in financing for development, which can be instrumental for OIC countries in fostering sustainable development when effectively utilized.

“In this connection, the symposium aims to identify the opportunities for innovative financing mechanisms, including Islamic finance instruments, as well as effective utilization modalities of existing resources for financing development in developing countries, with a particular focus on OIC member countries. It will also highlight and discuss the growing role of some OIC member countries as development financiers and emerging donors in achieving global development goals.”