OREANDA-NEWS. June 01, 2009. In the framework of the coming 34th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank two seminars and a series of the meetings of the specialized agencies affiliated with this large financial organisation were held under the aegis of IsDB at the President Hotel in Ashgabat.

The themes of the first seminar involving the specialists of the Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan and the State Bank of Foreign Economic Activity and the delegations of the IsDB member countries – Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan was financing and the potential of the Islamic Development Bank Group. IsDB was represented by the specialists of the Islamic Development Bank and its investment funds at the seminar.

The forum focused on the priorities of development and the achievements of the national health sector, and in this context – the key aspects of cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank. The presentations of the projects implemented in collaboration with the IsDB in the CIS states were made.

The IsDB specialists made presentations on the Bank’s activities, affiliated institutions and special programmes and the major principles and forms of financing. As is known the major goal of the Islamic Development Bank is financial cooperation is to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities across the world individually as well as jointly in accordance with the principles of Shariah.

Mutually advantageous cooperation in the framework of IsDB was the focus of the second seminar on the activities conducted by the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA). The forum brought together the specialists of the Ministry of Water Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Nature Protection, agricultural research institutes and the experts of the Islamic Development Bank and its affiliated institutions.

The participants considered and discussed the ways to use marginal lands and underproductive water for agricultural purposes under the conditions of the Central Asian region and develop saline areas in the zone of impact of the Aral Sea. Exchange of views focused on the proposals put forward by the ICBA which aimed its efforts to render assistance on agricultural development to the water-scarce countries and help to improve the productivity, social equity and environmental sustainability of water use through an integrated water resource systems approach, with special emphasis on saline and marginal quality water, cultivation of salt tolerant crops. The ICBA projects are aimed at increasing crops in the arid zones and improving the ecological situation.

The General Assemblies of the Federation of Contractors from Islamic Countries, Associations of the National Finance Development Organisations, the Federation of Consultants from Islamic Countries were held in Ashgabat to sum up the activities of these specialized institutions of the Bank and identify the fields of further work.