TUNIS: The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday officially launched a $500m fund to strengthen science, technology and innovation in the Muslim World.
The launch of the fund, which would support scientists in 57 IDB member countries, was made at the IDB’s 43rd Annual Meeting in capital Tunis.
The fund had been announced for the first time in Kazakhstan in September 2017, by the IDB President, Dr. Bandar Hajjar. He said the fund had great potential to create an innovation ecosystem in developing countries. “It is not only about sharing ideas, it is also about funding,” he added.
He said 57 IDB member countries face challenges in development and many of them could not solve their problems on their own. The IDB wants to bring together developers to share value and build capacity among member countries, he said.
He said science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship were needed in an enabling environment.
“The IDB wants to be a catalyst so that people can lead the process of development,” he added.
Dr. Hayat Sindi, chief scientific adviser to the IDB president, said the bank would like to give every scientist an opportunity to provide solutions to development challenges.
She said the aim of the fund was to give a boost to creative minds.
She added the bank had welcomed applications from several people and institutions, including nongovernmental organizations and researchers.
