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Akbar Novruz

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The 51st annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group, which opened today in Baku under the patronage of President Ilham Aliyev, is precisely the type of conference where big figures and precise writing are both expected. The theme of the conference - "Regional Integration for Sustainable Prosperity" – was certainly not selected without much consideration. This is the time when the development of Azerbaijan itself became for the foreign delegations an example worth studying.

As stated by Aliyev at the opening session:

"With the strong ties in the regional scale and also on global arena, Azerbaijan already became an important actor in many aspects. We have been a successful host country for many international events since the 2010 annual meeting of the IsDB Group. Among the recent ones, I would name the successful COP29 held in 2024 with remarkable results. Additionally, last month's World Urban Forum, one of the biggest international gatherings, was also successfully held in Azerbaijan, with many more to come. This once again demonstrates the diversified agenda of our activity. Azerbaijan [on the other hand] has become an important actor in the global energy arena, initiating, and financing, and implementing large-scale energy infrastructure projects."

The case is different when made in a roomful of resource-rich developing countries than it would be made in Europe. And that is the reason Baku was the appropriate place to make it, not Brussels or Geneva.

The figures, in this case, are really quite big. Azerbaijan's Economy Minister, Mikayil Jabbarov, stated that over 32 deals amounting to over $4.7 billion would be concluded within the framework of the conference, a figure higher than the $3.6 billion concluded at the same conference last year, and which, according to the Minister, "is not just an increment of volumes but also a commitment to results and efficiency." Even on its very first day, the Board of Executive Directors of the IsDB approved $2.8 billion in development financing for member states, including a €650.75 million financing deal for the Standard Gauge Railway of Uganda.

These particular agreements signed on the side illustrate the meaning of the term "regional integration." There was a Memorandum of Understanding signed between SOCAR and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector to study the possibilities for Shariah-compliant PPP financing of energy and infrastructure projects in Azerbaijan and other ICD members, an agreement which marks the first application of Islamic finance structures in the Azerbaijani upstream and infrastructure sectors on such a massive level. In addition to its relationship with ICD, which includes four different agreements worth $33 million, TuranBank has agreed on a $15 million Shariah-compliant SME financing facility with ICD. The third important agreement was made by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, which entered into agreements with IFC to establish a confirming bank agreement, a $250 million agreement with Gambia, and a $10 million agreement for trade in cotton with Tajikistan.

The journey of the institution itself underscores this mission. The bank has increased its number of approvals annually from US$6.8 billion in 2020 to US$16 billion in 2025 and its disbursements from US$7.1 billion to US$11 billion, thereby placing it on a path to join the ranks of the top-tier international development banks in terms of volume of lending, if not reputation. The ten-year strategic framework adopted during this conference in 2026-2035, based on Muhammad Al Jasser's vision of "originality, solidarity and intergenerational prosperity," outlines a promising path for an organization that is more known for its participation in diplomatic circles within the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) than within development banking literature.

"In a world marked by uncertainty, fragmentation, and rising vulnerabilities, solidarity is no longer a choice. It is an imperative", Dr Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, IsDB Group Chairman, opening ceremony,

The hosting of the 51st Annual Meeting in Azerbaijan is part of a pattern whereby major international conferences – including COP29 next year, WUF13 last month, the ITF Leipzig presidency earlier this year, have seen the Azerbaijani capital emerge as one of the most dynamic conference cities within the Eurasian sphere. Azerbaijan acceded to the membership of the IsDB in 1992, in its second year of gaining independence, and has been a continuous member ever since. In fact, the choice of Baku as a venue for the annual forum also carries a certain amount of tacit recognition that in the era after Hormuz and the Northern Corridor, development funds need to be steered towards nations whose geography and infrastructural networks act as a bridge between Global South producers and Global North markets.