Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB)held a reception party in Jeddah today in honor of local and foreign media delegates invited by the Ministry of Culture and Information to cover Hajj activities. Addressing the gathering, Dr. Ahmed Mohammed Ali, President of IDB, briefed his guests on the activities and achievements of the bank since its inception in 1984, citing the establishment of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development aiming at combating poverty and unemployment in member countries. He cast light on the set up of the Islamic World Foundation for Trade Finance which commenced its activities early 2008 with a capital of $3 billion. Dr. Ali highlighted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's project to benefit from pilgrims' goat sacrificing, commenced 26 years ago. As many as 700,000 sheep heads and about 10,000 camel and cow heads are expected to be slaughtered during this year's Hajj.
