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In its effort to equip people to drive their own economic and social progress, President Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Dr. Bandar Hajjar recently stated that IsDB group has given a total financing of $12.43 billion to Pakistan through various development projects including the projects of science and technology sector in past years.
Dr. Hajjar along with a delegation from IsDB recently met with Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to build Naya Pakistan would pave way for the economic development in the country.
During the meeting with PM Khan, Dr. Hajjar said that Pakistan is the integral member country of the IsDB group and is the third largest beneficiary of IsDB financing in different developmental sectors.
Dr. Hajjar highlighted that IsDB has reserved a $500 million fund for promoting science, technology, and innovation in the member countries. IsDB had launched the ‘Transform Fund’ back in 2018 to support science, technology and innovation projects to resolve development challenges across the globe.
President IsDB further elaborated the motive of Transform Fund and said that the fund provides seed investment for startups and SMEs to develop their ideas and also to commercialize the provision of technology among the IsDB’s member countries. The bank had also awarded four Pakistani innovators, researchers, and entrepreneurs with seed capital and business mentoring skills as part of its fifth edition of the ‘Transformers Roadshow’ global competition.
He also told Prime Minister that IsDB is working to improve the energy needs of the country by financing Neelum Jhelum Hydro Power Project, Jamshoro Power Station, CASA 1000 project. IsDB is a multilateral development bank that has been working for over 40 years to improve the lives of the communities it serves by delivering impact at scale.
