Baku: Four key areas are essential for financing sustainable development, Syed Hussein Qadri, Director of PGARM at the Islamic Development Bank Group, said at the session titled '8th SDG Dialogue: Innovative Financing for Sustainable Development - Beyond Aid and Traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA)' held within the framework of the Islamic Development Bank Annual Meetings in Baku, APA-Economics reports.

According to Azeri-Press news agency, Qadri emphasized the importance of building a portfolio of quality projects as the first priority. He underscored the need to create a pipeline of sustainable projects to address the main issue at hand. The second priority he highlighted was standardization, noting the discrepancies between investment concepts and definitions used in different regions, such as Kuala Lumpur and London. This lack of standardization poses significant challenges, as evidenced by efforts to align Green Sukuk principles with the London Stock Exchange and the International Capital Market Association.

The third area of focus Qadri mentioned is the development of projects and their placement in the market. He pointed out that multilateral development banks and development finance institutions should actively involve the private sector in both project preparation and market placement. This involvement is closely tied to discussions on MDB debt instruments.

Finally, Qadri identified the blended finance model as the fourth critical area. He stressed the importance of cooperation with various partners and institutions at multiple levels, which includes mobilizing domestic resources, leveraging regional financing opportunities, and attracting funds from charitable sources, such as zakat and other financial instruments.

Qadri concluded by expressing optimism that the implementation of these elements would lead to significant progress in sustainable development financing. "I hope these approaches will deliver important results in the coming period," he added.