JEDDAH — The Islamic Development Bank Group’s President Dr. Bandar Hajjar inaugurated “World Arabic Language Day” event on Wednesday at the bank’s headquarters here.

The event also held a display of Arabic and Islamic calligraphy paintings, in addition to a panel discussion and poetry competition in Arabic among IDB staff.

“The Arabic language is a language of 2 billion people around the world who are members of the Islamic Ummah,” said IDB president

“It is the official language of IDB, even though the bank also deals in English and French.”

He said the bank has provided about $300 million in support of literacy and education projects in Africa. The IDB allocates grants to teach the Arabic language, he added.

The ceremony also included a scientific symposium on the reality and future of the Arabic language in education, global organizations and scientific academies.

The symposium stressed the importance of using artificial intelligence in designing programs to promote and learn the Arabic language to boost its presence in the era of the fourth industrial revolution.

The poetry competition was won by Nigerian contestant Saeed Al-Rifai from the bank’s head office. Mauritanian Izz Al-Din Ahmed from its regional office won second place.