The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) held a series of coordination meetings over three consecutive days, which brought together the sectors of ICESCO and IsDB’s cooperation department. The meetings explored joint action following the meeting of Dr. Bandar Hajjar, IsDB President, and Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General (DG), on February 15, 2021, wherein they stressed their desire to support joint programmes and distance education in Member States amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the latest meeting of the series, held on Thursday, February 25, 2021, the two parties explored cooperation in the areas of digital transformation, quality education, women empowerment, training, scholarships, science, technology and innovation, economic empowerment, and other areas of common interest.

Each party presented its vision and activities on the transfer and exchange of expertise between Member States, in addition to its programmes aimed at fostering the environment of science, technology and innovation, as well as its experiences and success stories in economic empowerment, particularly for women and young people.

ICESCO DG commended IsDB’s efforts and leading achievements in various fields, particularly in science, technology, and innovation, while stressing the consensus between ICESCO and IsDB over promoting scientific research and adopting modern technologies to achieve development in the Islamic world.

The two parties stressed their keenness to develop practical cooperation mechanisms by establishing specialized joint committees, holding regular meetings, and signing specific programme agreements.