Minister of Finance and the Kingdom's Governor of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Mohammed Al Jadaan participated in the Islamic Development Bank Group Annual Meetings held under the theme "Beyond Recovery: Resilience and Sustainability", in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on June 2-4, 2022. During his participation in the 47th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IsDB, held on Friday, June 3, Al Jadaan said that Saudi Arabia, since its inception, has always shown interest in being involved in humanitarian and development efforts in Muslim countries. "The Kingdom has been offering all kinds of support, at the bilateral level and through regional and international organizations." He indicated that such efforts, undertaken by the Kingdom under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince, reiterate the interest of the Kingdom's leadership and people in supporting the development process in the Muslim world. Al Jadaan pointed out that the world is currently facing geopolitical and economic challenges, which compel the countries of the IsDB Group to step up the level of cooperation and coordination in order to reverse the adverse effects of inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions on the economies of the region. He also stated that the world in general and the Muslim World in particular, are facing many challenges, which require continued efforts to strengthen the Bank's institutional and integration efforts. In addition, there is a need to establish performance indicators that contribute to monitoring and evaluating the level of the Group's performance, as well as providing support for financial sustainability. This should serve the purpose of enabling the group to achieve its development goals in the Muslim World and enhance the Group's work on developing human and technical skills. During his participation in the Governors' Roundtable Meeting, Al Jadaan urged the IsDB Group to develop an urgent and comprehensive plan to proactively address the challenges of food security in the member countries. He also confirmed the Kingdom's readiness to provide technical support in this field to expedite the fulfillment of this effort. On another note, Al Jadaan indicated that the Kingdom's government, led by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince, realize the need to strengthen efforts to achieve global climate targets. To this end, the Kingdom has launched several initiatives and projects within the framework of the Middle East Green Initiative. He, then, called on the Bank Group and member states to support such initiatives and make the best use of the benefits they offer in order to address global climate challenges. The minister of finance stressed the importance of increasing investments in human capital development by improving the quality of education and health, and providing an enabling and stimulating environment for youth and entrepreneurs which is a key driver of human development; calling on the IsDB Group to adopt the tenets of human development as a long-term strategy. — SG
