Islamic Development Bank (IsDb) Vice President Dr. Mansur Muhtar convened a strategic briefing session with GCEL on February 11, 2019 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
GCEL’s delegation was led by Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat, former Secretary General of Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry and Dr. Sergio Arzeni, INSME President and former OECD Director of SME Entrepreneurship.
The session centered on the need for mid and low income countries to achieve greater transparency and efficiency to reduce business risk and costs towards increasing trade. This can be achieved through new digital tools delivered through a Digital Economy Platform that provides seamlessly integrated e-commerce, e-finance, e-insurance and e-logistics services, delivered free of cost to end users by the world’s largest technology firms and national service providers.
The IsDB is currently leading an economic development roadmap to strengthen the economies in the Arab – Sub-Saharan Africa regions over the next three years. The roadmap includes identifying new business opportunities and how improved finance and logistics services can support and grow trade.