By Yousef Al-Saeedi (with photos) JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia, May 12 (KUNA) -- The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFS) said Wednesday it was keen on developing markets and increasing the abilities of the trade sector in Islamic countries.
ITFS Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Waleed Al-Wuhaib told KUNA that the USD 2.166 billion operations of the corporation in 2009 aimed to increase trade among member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
The annual average growth of trade among the member states of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) was 16.5 percent in 2009, he said.
He pointed out that he expects that the growth would reach 20 percent in 2015.
ITFS, which has a leading economic role, has the highest insurance rating of AAA from specialized agencies, he noted.
ITFS, which is a member of the IDB group, also received international economic prizes, he added.
The corporation stresses economic and social development and encourages the development of trade between IOC member countries and other countries of the world, he pointed out.
He said that ITFS has strong relations with more than 80 banks and financial bodies from around the world.
Although it was founded recently, during a meeting of IDB governors in Kuwait in 2007, the corporation has a three-decade expertise in finance, marketing, and trade cooperation, as several channels were responsible of those issues in IDB prior to its establishment, he said.
Since its establishment, ITFS played a leading role in stressing economic and social development in compliance to the Islamic Sharia, he noted.
Al-Wuhaib highlighted that the corporation was based on the Islamic funding system that aims to fulfill the needs of marketing just trade and dealing with income differences, not on trade alone or ignoring ethics and principles.
A total of 30 percent of ITFS's shares are owned by IDB, while the rest is owned by IDB member states and other financial corporations, (end) yms.ris KUNA 121129 May 10NNNN