Islamic Development Bank (IDB) – a multilateral developing institution of the world initiatives are aimed at youth, technology and innovation. The Bank recently launched Transform, a multimillion dollar fund that will work to promote and nurture science, technology and innovation. The Bank has also launched a digital platform to accelerate economic and social progress in the developing world through science technology and innovation. The fund will bring the right tools to local communities so that they will be able be in charge of own future.
A lot of the younger generation engaged in trying to make a better society. Women in particular were taking the charge, reflecting the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) launched a $500 million ‘innovation fund’ for funding scientific and technological inventions to tackle development challenges among state members. Some of the money earmarked for the fund would be invested in food security, education, water management, clean energy and manufacturing in developing nations.
The Islamic Development Bank understands that people living in the developing world need more than just grant funding. They need sustainable solutions to help them build their own way out of poverty.
IDB launched Transform will ensure IDB members have access to a vital flow of financing facilities to help finance innovative ideas linked to real development solutions. Some will finance emerging companies, small and medium enterprises, stating that inventors, scientists and institutions can apply for funding online.
The Bank would like to give every scientist an opportunity to provide solutions to development challenges. Since its establishment 45 years ago, the Bank has provided $11.2 billion in funds to 483 different projects in Turkey. The Bank is committed to the development needs of its member countries.
In the last one year, IDB have introduced several initiatives that would help in building capacity of member countries, particularly by leveraging on the opportunities offered by science and technology.
As part of its plan to be closer to clients, IDB had decided to decentralize its operations. No institution can solve development challenges alone. That is why the annual meeting in Tunisia is focusing on partnerships for sustainable development.
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IDB projects
The projects funded by the IDB in Turkey include: Islamic banking and finance, education, energy, health, and renewable energy. The Bank maintains an office in the Turkish capital Ankara and another in Istanbul, from where it handles projects in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina. The Second Generation of the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness (AFAB-2) in Islamic countries was launched during the 43rd annual meeting in the Tunisian capital Tunis. For this, IDB had created a $30 million fund that would allow 100,000 cataract surgeries to be performed and would provide glasses to a million children in Africa.
The IDB President announced that about 33 million people in Africa suffer from visual impairment while nearly 75 percent of these cases can be prevented or treated, especially those related to cataract.
A new report indicated that emerging manufacturing establishments in Turkey are increasing in attractiveness due to low cost. Turkey ranked 10 in a 42-country list analyzing attractiveness in terms of manufacturing companies’ perspectives, according to Manufacturing Risk Index 2018 of Cushman and Wakefield’s.
Turkey followed China, Lithuania, Malaysia, Taiwan, Canada, the US, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Cushman and Wakefield saying Turkey’s main competitive advantage at present is its lower costs. Recent geopolitical uncertainty decreased Turkey’s attractiveness for international companies.
Wage hikes and growing labor shortages in Central Europe are pushing more cost-sensitive industries east to Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Despite some escalating geopolitical risks, Turkey remains a key manufacturing powerhouse.
The fund will offer several types of funding: Proof of concept funding to help support scientists and others to develop ideas and prototypes; scale funding to help young entrepreneurs grow and find partners or donors; commercialization capital to help scale; and funding to help build human capacity and human capital in innovation ecosystems.
Part of what the fund and the Islamic Development Bank more broadly will be working on is engaging governments and key decision-makers to create appropriate strategies and policies to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.
Islamic Development Bank launches digital hub and fund to support development. The Bank based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, launched on February 20 in central London, a digital hub and a multimillion-dollar fund to accelerate innovative ideas to help meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Engage hub invites innovators to meet, share ideas and challenge each other, with the Transform Fund providing money for the best ideas.
Singapore, South Korea and Malaysia who lacked natural and financial resources but had a vision to recognize the role of innovation wants for change. IDB wants the member countries to “create a culture of science and technology” as “science and technology is not installing of machines and devises.”
The development model of the Muslim world, which currently heavily relies on state institutions, must be changed. The bank is trying to bring together the private and public sectors and other stakeholders to accelerate development in member states.
The IDB has established a fund to carry out feasibility studies for member countries in order to help them finance these needs.