Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 09/11/2009
Istanbul, Republic Of Turkey 9 November 2009 Your Excellency, President Abdullah Gul, President of the Republic of Turkey Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government, Honourable Ministers and Heads of Delegation Distinguished Delegates Assalamu Aleykum Warahamatullahi wabarakatuhu It is indeed a great honour for me to address this Economic Summit, which is holding on the occasion of the 25th session of the establishment of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). Let me, first and foremost, express my sincere congratulations to His Excellency, Dr. Abdullah Gul, President of the Republic of Turkey on the occasion of the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of COMCEC. The constant and robust support of the Turkish leadership has facilitated greatly the mandate of promoting closer economic cooperation between member-states of the Organisation of the Islamic Countries. Similarly, I wish to hereby acknowledge the brotherly hospitality and warm reception extended to all delegations at this Summit by the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey. There is no doubt that the excellent and elaborate arrangements made for the hosting of this gathering have contributed to its resounding success. This Summit is coming at the end of the 25th annual COMCEC session. COMCEC has been responsible for the implementation of the Plan of Action for Strengthening the Economic Cooperation, which was endorsed by the Seventh Summit held in Casablanca in December 1994. Following the adoption of the Ten Year Programme of Action at the 3rd Extra-Ordinary Session in Makkah Al-Mukarammah in December 2005, economic cooperation and development issues have become very prominent in the agenda of OIC. Consequently, COMCEC spearheaded this huge task of accelerating the various reform processes, which are aimed at improving the condition of living for the majority of Muslims in the world. It is gratifying to note here that COMCEC has discharged these tasks very creditably, judging from the testimonies of a host of our member-states, stakeholders and development partners. In the recent past, efforts have been directed towards expansion of intra-OIC trade through the elaboration of an agreement to promote preferential trade within OIC Member States. The enabling agreements, which are necessary for free flow of trade among our member-states, are being put in place. The necessary ratification requirements for entry into force of PRETAS have been concluded, while the same processes in respect of the Rule of Origin are near completion. I must avail myself of this occasion to thank all our leaders who have always responded positively to the various demarches by the General Secretariat of the OIC for the speedy execution of this important agreement. The combination of all these activities would pave the way for the attainment of the target set by OIC Heads of State and Government to raise intra-OIC trade figure to 20% by the year 2015. I am also glad to note here that since the adoption of the series of trade facilitation and trade financing measures, the increase in volume of trade among OIC countries has become significant. We have now reached 16.60%, notwithstanding the global economic meltdown. Your Excellencies Distinguished Delegates It is a known fact that increases in national earnings associated with trade exchanges and trade expansion can only trickle down to the poorest segments of the population, if deliberate programmes are undertaken to alleviate poverty and bring both the poor and the deprived into the mainstream of the economic process. OIC has one third of the population of developing countries, while a significant number of them are considered as Least Developing countries. The objective of collective prosperity that our leaders seek to achieve can only be realizable if poverty-alleviation programmes remain the centre-piece of our economic cooperation agenda. It is for this reason that I salute the efforts of the various economic agencies of the OIC in promoting programmes to address the condition of these vulnerable groups in the Muslim community. Poverty Alleviation, Promotion of Agro-Food Industries, Micro-finance, and Infrastructure Development are some of the programmes that are being implemented by our economic agencies. In this context, let me salute the unflinching commitment of the Islamic Development Bank to the implementation of these numerous programmes. Our attention is now focusing on cross-border projects, which also bear the potentials of consolidating peace and harmony between inhabitants of border regions. The conclusion of the various trade agreements would need Your Excellencies support so that the process of actual mobilization of the energies of our people for active economic exchanges can commence. These measures have the potentials of repositioning our Organisation as a veritable actor in the area of collective economic security. However, as the world faces enormous challenges in the aftermath of the global financial, food and energy crises, the review of the activities of COMCEC has now been undertaken with a view to providing appropriate collective response to cushion the negative effects of these global crises on the welfare of our peoples. I am happy to note the on-going activities aimed at looking inward within the OIC community for appropriate and adequate responses to these global crises. The recent meetings among the heads of our Central Banks and Stock Exchanges are steps in this direction. In addition, the elaboration of Halal Food Standards and the increasing role of the Private Sector are measures that will contribute to trade expansion. They will also help in addressing these devastating financial and food crises that have further plunged our countries deeper into recession. Permit me to finally pay homage to the copious support received by the General Secretariat from Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Government through your respective countries’ identification with the numerous economic activities of the Organisation. In particular, I would wish to register my sincere appreciation to the Chairman of the OIC, President Abdoulaye Wade for his special support during the period of the various reforms, which have facilitated the implementation of the Ten Year Programme of Action and the objective of active economic cooperation within the Ummah. I salute all our officials in the General Secretariat and the COMCEC Coordination Secretariat for their untiring efforts in preparing for this Summit. I also commend the tangible support received from all the OIC agencies in the particular areas of developing high-quality projects, which have greater potentials for active economic cooperation among our countries. The launch of the SESRIC’s web-portal on Vocational Education and Training Programme for OIC Countries is a practical step towards contributing to the objective of human capacity-building and rapid socio-economic transformation in OIC countries. In this connection, the Private Sector agencies and the Business Sector require special mention here, judging from their dedication to the ideals of promoting free trade and ensuring that all our decisions translate in practical terms to more food on the table for the various segments of our populations. These efforts are equally targeted at ensuring that our objective of poverty alleviation is realized in a timely fashion. It is, therefore, my sincere hope that this Summit would come up with further directives, which would concretise the achievements so far realized through the rapid and immediate implementation of these development programmes and projects. There is no doubt that this measure would usher in abundant happiness, welfare and prosperity for the Islamic Ummah. Assalamu Aleykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu.
