The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, participated in the WTO Public Forum last Sept. 29 in Geneva. Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO ITFC presented IDB Group's role in general and ITFC's role in specific to the global trade finance during the Panel on "Trade Finance for SMEs: Policy, Instruments and Innovation". "It is very important to convey the ITFC story, and the trade-finance solutions we provide for the development of our member countries, specifically during this critical time and all the economic challenges we are facing today", said Eng. Sonbol. The discussion focused on ITFC unique positioning as South-South Multilateral Institution has allowed the corporation to shape tailor-made financing solutions supporting trade flows, in addition to ITFC special programs that are being developed to tackle SMEs needs through a mix of dedicated financing structures (like two-steps Murabaha) and capacity building modules. "As of today, the IDB Group has financed more than $60 billion of trade transactions all over the world. Since inception in 2008, ITFC has on its own extended more than $33 billion of trade-finance."
