Business & Money | Sunday 11 March, 2018 4:02 am |

Under the patronage of The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) took part in the 35th board meeting of the Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT), to review all the initiatives that had been implemented the previous year and discuss future plans aimed at developing trade among Member States.

 

The opening session held on March 7, 2018 in Casablanca, was attended by Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs of the OIC, Madam Rakiya Eddarhem, Secretary of State in charge of foreign trade at the Ministry of Industry, Investment, Trade and Digital and key note speeches delivered by Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO ITFC, and Dr. El Hassane Hzaine, the Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT).

 

In his opening address, Eng. Hani praised the efforts of the Islamic Center for Trade Development (ICDT) for its active contribution to supporting development in Islamic countries. At the same time, He also reviewed the cooperation relations between ITFC and ICDT since its inception in 2008.

 

He further noted that ITFC is always committed to supporting export and trade finance initiatives serving its member States.

 

He also highlighted the momentum gained by ITFC’s initiatives since it was launched in 2008, he said: “To reach the OIC Ten-Year Plan of Action, ITFC has engaged in all initiatives in support of this objective, starting from the annual coordination meeting between the OIC institutions, which is organized periodically in December of each year. It also contributes to the activities of the Trade and Investment Subcommittee (TISC), which is overseen by the Islamic Center for Trade Development (ICDT). "

 

While presenting the details of ITFC’s initiatives, He added "Since 2016, ITFC has been pursuing a new strategy based on integrating its financing and development arms to provide integrated trade solutions and to bring about a significant development impact and thereby benefit our member countries more from the programs and projects that are being implemented for them. Therefore, ITFC has been keen to design and launch initiatives with regional and international dimensions to achieve the desired impact on inter-trade. "

 

For his part, Dr. El Hassane Hzaine, the Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), highlighted the strong role ITFC is playing in the international trade industry, notably the Arab Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) and AFTIAS Program.