ISLAMABAD: The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank, has approved a $1.2 billion financing under the annual plan to provide Pakistan integrated trade solutions to support the energy and agriculture sectors.

The annual plan agreement for calendar 2022 includes financing for the import of essential commodities such as crude oil, refined petroleum products, LNG, food and agricultural products in addition to implementing trade-related technical assistance intervention to ensure trade development impact.

The annual plan was signed during a ceremony in ITFC headquarters in Jeddah between ITFC and a delegation of the Ministry of Economic Affairs on Monday.

According to the ITFC Chief Operating Officer, Nazeem Noordali, COO, the annual plan reflects the importance of the longstanding cooperation between ITFC and Pakistan. ITFC is continuously working closely with its member countries to meet their requirements through providing integrated solutions that include financing and capacity-building tools that allow for maximizing the development impact of ITFC interventions.

“We are delighted and we will continue to mobilize financial resources to support Pakistan in its endeavours to achieve its economic targets through our existing Framework Agreement,” he said

The EAD delegation, Pakistan expressed their appreciation for the continued support and partnership with ITFC, and underlined the need for enhanced cooperation through more efficient processes to further promote Islamic trade finance and trade development interventions in Pakistan.

Despite a challenging year in due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ITFC provided around $1.1 billion of trade financing in 2021. ITFC had signed the fourth framework agreement with Pakistan in June 2021 for $4.5 billion. It is worth mentioning that, since 2008, ITFC has provided $6.7 billion to Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2022