Islamic funding initiative aims to help reduce poverty

Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Sat, 03/08/2008 12:10 PM

Indonesia has come out in support of an initiative by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to establish a fund aimed at promoting solidarity and cooperation among Islamic countries in line with poverty alleviation movements.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday met with the president of the IDB, Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al Madani, at the State Palace.

They discussed the idea of establishing the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), which was proposed during an Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in 1991.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said after the meeting the ISFD was a fund collected by OIC member countries and the IDB to be disbursed for poverty alleviation programs in Islamic countries.

"As of now, we have collected US$2.6 billion, with $1.6 billion from OIC members and the remaining from the IDB. We have targeted to collect $10 billion," she said.

"We will invest the money and use the profit to finance poverty alleviation programs, such as through public-private partnerships in micro-financing and other activities that are aimed at improving the economy."

She said other initiatives would include delivering technical assistance through vocational training, in a move to develop working skills and create more job opportunities.

The meeting was also attended by the former president of Sudan, Abdel Rahman Swar Al Dahab, IDB regional office director Ahmed S. Hariri, an adviser to the IDB president, Mansour bin Fetten, and former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie.

"President Yudhoyono said he fully supported the idea and would discuss it with other OIC members in the upcoming summit in Senegal," Sri Mulyani said.

She said it would require the commitment and contributions from all OIC members, and that it would take years to completely realize the idea.