Hani Salem Sonbol, chief executive of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, held a meeting with Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD secretary-general, during the WTO Aid for Trade Global Review 2017 in Geneva.
The meeting took place on July 12 where both parties discussed areas of cooperation and mutual interests for the development of each institution’s member countries.
Sonbol said: “UNCTAD has a long-lasting partnership with the IDB Group and ITFC, specifically through the Aid for Trade Initiative for Arab States (AfTIAS).”
The UNCTAD executed the capacity building and assistance project in Comoros and Sudan in 2014, part of the AfTIAS.
“We look forward to building a more strategic partnership with UNCTAD to provide more tailored solutions that serve better our member countries,” he added.
Kituyi thanked Sonbol and commended the efforts of ITFC, especially its trade programs, such as AfTIAS and the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) program. Both parties discussed potential future areas of cooperation including green financing, SMEs development and technical assistance and capacity building initiatives, among other trade development projects.

Source: Arab News