The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) is providing a $150m insurance facility as part of the COVID-19 response initiated by the Jeddah-headquartered Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group.
ICIEC is a member of the IsDB Group and was established to provide investment and export credit insurance for Islamic countries.
IsDB Group said in a statement that it is deeply concerned about the exponential growth in the number of COVID-19 cases worldwide and the human, social and economic fallout from the pandemic, especially in IsDB member countries. The global supply chain disruptions, demand compression and macroeconomic instability will have severe economic growth and poverty impacts on the member countries, if not managed appropriately.
IsDB Group fully recognises the limited ability and capacity of its member countries to cope with these adverse impacts. To support its member countries in this time of need, IsDB Group has set up a special ‘Strategic Preparedness and Response Facility’ of $730m to mitigate the negative health and socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes $280m from the Bank and Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development for sovereign projects and programmes, $300m from International Islamic Trade finance Corporation (ITFC) for trade finance and $150m from ICIEC for insurance coverage.
The facility will extend financing to both the public and private sectors in minimising the impact of the pandemic in IsDB member countries and to build their resilience. Financing will be extended in the form of grants, concessional resources, trade finance, private sector lending and political and risk insurance coverage.
The facility will support strengthening of the health systems, funding of national epidemic preparedness and response plans, community awareness and education, disease surveillance, data collection and analysis, sustained provision of essential social services, provision of social safety nets, and private sector activity.
The IsDB Group will also invest in research and development and provide technical assistance support for development of innovative solutions for preventing and containing the pandemic under its Science, Technology and Innovation Programme. M