Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan Nurlan Baybazarov is on a working visit to Saudi Arabia, where the annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is being held these days. 

Nurlan Baibazarov as the governor from Kazakhstan held meetings with the president of the IDB group Muhammad Al-Jasser and Chief Executive Officer of the Islamic Corporation for Investment and Export Credit Insurance (ICIEC) Osama Qaissi.

The Islamic Development Bank is one of the most active multilateral development banks in the world and a leader in Islamic finance. With AAA ratings, IDB promotes the social and economic development of member countries around the world. 

The main topic of the meeting with Muhammad Al-Jasser was the financing of projects to modernise Kazakhstan's water infrastructure, which is one of the Government's priorities in view of the unprecedented floods this year. 

Thus, in order to preserve the country's water-resource potential and ensure security, it is envisaged to implement a number of urgent measures for the construction and reconstruction of reservoirs, hydraulic structures and irrigation systems, as well as digitalisation and introduction of water-saving technologies.

As a result of the negotiations, an agreement was reached on channelling large-scale investments of the IDB Group into water sector projects in Kazakhstan, as well as on allocating grants for the preparation of relevant technical documentation. The first tranches will be realised already this year.

Within the framework of negotiations with ICIEC, agreements were reached on cooperation on reinsurance, insurance and guarantee with the organisations of Baiterek Holding - KazakhExport export credit agency and Development Bank of Kazakhstan. The companies are interested in implementing joint projects with ICIEC in the field of transport infrastructure, trade finance, as well as investment insurance. 

Recall, the Republic of Kazakhstan became a member of the Islamic Development Bank in 1995.  During this period, with the participation of the IDB group in the country was implemented 67 projects totalling about $1.8 billion.

#International Cooperation #Nurlan Baibazarov