The initiative of the President of Kazakhstan to support developing countries during the pandemic was discussed with the Head of the IsDB

On February 22, 2021, H.E. Mr. Berik Aryn, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Saudi Arabia, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the OIC, held a meeting with H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, the President of the Islamic Development Bank.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the IsDB and the implementation of several socio-economic projects in Kazakhstan with the Bank and its institutions' participation.

Ambassador Berik Aryn expressed Kazakhstan's interest in expanding cooperation with the IsDB in implementing initiatives announced within the OIC framework and other international structures.

In this context, the diplomat informed on the initiative of H.E. Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kazakhstan, on identifying innovative solutions to the problems of debt vulnerability of Landlocked Developing Countries during the pandemic that was announced during last year's U.N. Forum "Financing for the Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond".

In this regard, the Ambassador invited the IsDB to participate in developing appropriate mechanisms for the implementation of this initiative.

H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar welcomed the initiative of the Head of Kazakhstan and expressed the Bank's readiness to explore the possibility of joint work in this direction. He also confirmed the IsDB's interest in continuing cooperation with Kazakhstan in overcoming the negative consequences of the spread of COVID-19.

Kazakhstan has been a member of the leading financial institution of the OIC – IsDB since 1995. In August 1997, the Bank opened one of its four regional offices in Almaty, which is responsible for coordinating the activities of the IsDB with the countries of Eastern Europe, the CIS, Mongolia, and China.

The IsDB President is a member of the Management Board of the Astana International Financial Center.

The Bank has participated in financing various infrastructure and socially significant projects in Kazakhstan through grants and concessional loans.