Jeddah : The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka agreed to conduct a comprehensive study to determine the impact of the Bank’s funding on the Sri Lankan Muslim community over the past 35 years, aimed to identify future priorities and improving the performance of projects implemented by the bank in the country.

During his visit to the IDB headquarters in Jeddah Monday, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammed Azmi explained to IDB President Bandar Hajjar about the progress of bank’s projects in the country, stressing that these projects contribute effectively to the development of the Muslim community there.

The ambassador pointed out that the proportion of Muslims in Sri Lanka ranges from 9 to 10 percent, and in some regions the proportion of Muslims is 100 percent. He said the government was targeting the development of the eastern region, which has been ravished by the war that ceased seven years ago. Thirty-five percent of the population in the eastern region are Muslims.

On his part, IDB President Hajjar stressed the strength of the relationship between the IDB and the Sri Lankan Muslim community. He pointed out that the number of IDB projects in Sri Lanka is 18 projects, and that education projects have the highest ratio of funding. He said that students are also benefitting from scholarship projects funded by the Bank.

The IDB president affirmed the bank’s readiness to study any plans aimed at the development of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. In that context, the Sri Lankan ambassador expressed his country’s desire to obtain assistance in the field of Islamic banking, stressing the general orientation of Muslims and many non-Muslims to deal with the perspective of Islamic finance.

It is known that many countries around the world seek to adopt Islamic finance based on the real economy, which will have a positive impact in supporting the economy and withstand the shocks that may affect the global economy.

—AG/IINA