Islamic banks governors call for launching second stage of AfTIAS

TUNIS - 4 April 2018: Governors of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group underlined the importance of launching the second stage of the Aid for Trade Initiative for the Arab States (AfTIAS), a multi-donor, multi-country and multi-agency program aiming to foster Arab trade through enhancing enterprise competitiveness and facilitating trade.

During the annual 43rd meeting of the IsDB board of governors, they noted that the first stage of the program was financed by seven countries and organizations, namely Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sweden, the UN Development Fund, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation and the Industrial Training Council in Egypt.

In press statements after the meeting, head of the bank group Bandar Hajjar said 23 projects were approved by the program at its first stage.

These projects benefited 19 Arab countries in many domains, including training youths in Egypt to get better jobs, buttressing exporting capabilities of Libya, developing the dates' sector in Al Madina Al Menawara, drafting the national strategy for exportation in Algeria and developing trade bodies in several Arab countries.

The AfTIAS, which was founded in 2013, aims at enhancing trade development in the Arab region, which still has the lowest level of intra-regional trade in the world despite preferential market conditions.

AfTIAS brings together five UN agencies (UNDP, ITC, UNCTAD, UNIDO and ILO), 4 Arab regional and sub-regional organizations (the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Agadir Technical Unit and Maghreb Arab Union) as well as 7 donors (IDB, ITFC, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Sweden, and UNDP).

Over the last two years, AfTIAS Program has worked hand in hand with its many partners, including the International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC) and the International Trade Center (ITC), to accelerate the pace of trade reforms and enhance competitiveness in global and regional markets