On November 11, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met with Dr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), in Riyadh on the margins of the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit.  

The Tajik president’s official website says Tajik president emphasized Tajikistan's satisfaction over the beneficial cooperation with the IsDB and highly valued the Bank’s contribution to ensuring the stable socio-economic development of Tajikistan.

It was reportedly noted that during Tajikistan’s independence, the IsDB group implemented a series of important projects with a total amount of 726 million dollars.

It was also pointed out that six projects in the energy, transport, land irrigation, education and healthcare sectors totaling worth 195 million dollars having been implemented in Tajikistan under financial support of the IsDB.  

It was noted that the Bank envisages the implementation of four additional investment projects with a total amount of 355 million dollars.

During the meeting, useful proposals were also made for cooperation and investment in the implementation of large hydropower projects of Tajikistan, in particular the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant, and the participation of the Islamic Development Bank in the implementation of this large hydropower project was considered important.

The parties reportedly also discussed issues related to cooperation and investment of the Bank in the fields of road and transport, agriculture, improvement of land reclamation conditions for agricultural purposes in Tajikistan, participation in disaster relief actions in Tajikistan, strengthening the export capacity of the country, establishing textile enterprises and production of halal products, logistics centers, trade and tourism development, traditional and Islamic banking and enhancing the capacity of the private sector, implementation of project programs for professional and technical education in mountainous areas of Tajikistan and ensuring the implementation of the Partnership Strategy between Tajikistan and the Islamic Development Bank for 2023-2026.

The Islamic Development Bank is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  There are 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia.

Tajikistan joined the Islamic Development Bank on November 27, 1996 and has a capital subscription of ID 18.2 million (0.04% of total IsDB subscribed capital).

The IsDB supports implementation of investment projects in education, healthcare, energy, transportation, agrarian and other priority socioeconomic sectors of Tajikistan.   As of early February this year, the IsDB has reportedly accepted 86 investment projects in a total amount of 641 million USD, and US$286 million worth of 23 projects have been implemented in various sectors of Tajikistan’s economy so far.