The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) held interactive sessions during the IsDB group private sector forum alongside with IsDB Group 43rd Annual Meeting in the Four Seasons Hotel.
The event entitled "The SMEs: engine of growth and sustainable development", raised awareness with regard to ICD's contribution in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and explored the IDB Group's various interventions with regard to Entrepreneurship, Startups and Innovative SMEs. ICD also informed developmental partners on practices and tools to be used for designing SME resilience support programs. It also discussed the importance of SME Funds and ICD's interventions in Private Equity and Mezzanine Financings under the SME Funds Program to help strengthen SMEs in member countries.
ICD organized three sessions. The first session focused on the IDB Group's contributions in supporting the growth of innovative SMEs, the second session discussed the challenges and needs of SMEs in fragile and conflict settings and the third session reviewed the role of SME Funds in developing economies.
The event witnessed remarkable interventions from leading figures in the finance industry commencing from H.E. Slim Feriani, Minister of Industry and SMEs in Tunisia, ICD's acting CEO Mohammed Al-Ammari and ending up with reputable CEOs and experts in the SMEs field from all over the world.
At this occasion, Mr. Al Ammari stated: "We feel proud in contributing to the inclusive development and sustainable growth through strengthening the role of private sector in our 54 member countries. ICD is the first Islamic multilateral development organization in the world that aims at developing the private sector in its member countries through Shari'ah-compliant products and services. Our pioneering role in multiple geographies enabled us to achieve success in providing finance to small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering advisory services, promoting integration, and enhancing productive capacities and resilience of private corporations".
About ICD
ICD is a multilateral organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group. The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments, which are in accordance with the principles of Shari'ah. ICD also provides advice to governments and private organizations to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises. ICD is rated AA/F1+ by Fitch and Aa3/P1 by Moody's. For more information visit www.icd-ps.org
