ICD has plans to set up SME funds with local partners for equity and quasi equity investments, and debt financing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO and general manager of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB).

Specifically for Saudi Arabia, ICD established a fund for investment in SMEs and was successful in raising SR1 billion and invested SR100 million from its own funds, he told Arab News in an exclusive interview.

“Poverty reduction...