DUBAI — Nasdaq Dubai welcomed the listing today of a $1.5 billion sukuk issued by Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), to support COVID-19 relief initiatives. The capital raised will fund medical, social and business projects in many of the bank’s 57 member countries aimed at protecting health and improving lives. The sukuk is the second to be issued under IsDB’s Sustainable Finance Framework, following its debut green sukuk last year and is the first ever AAA-rated sustainability sukuk in addition to being the first COVID-19 related sukuk in the global capital markets. It brings the number of IsDB sukuk listed on the region’s international exchange to 12 with a total value of $16.14 billion. IsDB President Dr. Bandar Hajjar said: "Our debut Sustainability Sukuk issuance will play a vital role in social projects that improve healthcare facilities, equipment and critical staffing in member countries to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, as well as support small and medium-sized businesses and promote employment as countries recover from the effects of the disease. “The competitive profit rate of 0.908 percent that we achieved reflects strong market confidence in our issuance and we look forward to further expanding our sustainable financing activities, including developing our cooperation with Nasdaq Dubai as the region’s international financial exchange." Essa Kazim, secretary general of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre and chairman of Dubai Financial Market, said: "IsDB’s latest listing demonstrates the effectiveness of global collaboration in the Islamic capital markets to protect and improve the welfare of individuals and stimulate economic development."" ""The listing underlines the growth of Dubai as the global capital of the Islamic Economy, under the initiative launched by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE vice president and prime minster, and ruler of Dubai," he added. The listing brings the total value of sukuk listed in Dubai to $70.79, reinforcing Dubai’s status as one of the largest sukuk listing centers in the world by value. Abdul Wahed Al Fahim, chairman of Nasdaq Dubai, said: "This listing underlines the wide diversity of issuers on Nasdaq Dubai, which so far this year has hosted new sukuk issuances from a variety of sovereign, multilateral and private sector entities from around the world. “We are delighted to make our high profile listing platform and regional and international investor links available to IsDB as it expands its beneficial and widely appreciated activities globally." Hamed Ali, chief executive of Nasdaq Dubai, said: " IsDB is playing an important role in the expansion of Nasdaq Dubai as a listing venue of choice for capital markets issuances that meet Environmental, Social and Governance, ESG, criteria. “We are preparing further initiatives to support the ESG sector and look forward to welcoming many more such issuances from a range of public and private sector institutions." The exchange also hosts IsDB’s first green sukuk, a one billion euro instrument that was issued in December 2019 under the Bank’s Sustainable Finance Framework. — WAM