H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, IsDB President met in his office at IsDB headquarters in Jeddah H.E. Ambassador Nathalie Fustier, UN Resident Coordinator in Riyadh. The meeting discussed the developing relations between IsDB and the different UN agencies to complement each other in achieving their common objectives.

The UN Resident coordinator and the accompanying delegation briefed the meeting on the role played by different UN Agencies and the potential cooperation opportunities with Bank in light of the increasing role of the Bank in achieving economic development and social stability in its member countries.  She stated that in KSA they are engaging more with Private sector and focusing on Partnerships with different organizations, and expressed keenness to promote their partnership with the Bank.

Dr. Hajjar praised the developing relations with the UN, noting that the concept of partnerships is at the heart of the President’s Five Year Program. “Relations with the UN Agencies are good and we are strengthening our cooperation with them” he said. Dr. Hajjar touched on the new IsDB business model and the different measure’s being taken by the Bank to cope with the huge challenges facing the member countries such as orientation towards decentralization, value chains, establishing Transform Fund and whole STI ecosystem, building of human capital, strengthening of Scholarship Program, etc. He also shed light on the MOU he signed with WIPO on the intellectual property rights, and UNESCO on STI Policy.

Dr. Hajjar stressed the importance of strengthening partnership activities amongst donors to collectively address the multifaceted development challenges facing developing countries, which could not be effectively tackled by a single institution alone, pointing out that this cannot be overstated.