Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 17/11/2007
The 23rd Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC) was held in Istanbul, Turkey on 14-17 November 2007. The Forum was addressed at the opening ceremony by His Excellency Abdullah GUL, President of the Republic of Turkey and H.E. Professor Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. In his Speech, H.E. Abdullah Gul, President of Turkey and the Chairman of COMCEC, emphasized the importance of economic cooperation among the OIC Member States, and underlined the target of increasing intra-OIC trade to 20% by 2015, as set out by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action stating that to reach the target, prompt measures should be put in place. The President also expressed the need for the Islamic Ummah to invest on research and development. His Excellency pointed out the political and economic problems of Islamic countries, particularly Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq. Finally, the President underlined the particular problems of African countries and urged OIC Member States to assist the continent in a Special African Programme, as the Turkish African Development Programme. In his Speech, the Secretary General of the OIC Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu congratulated H.E. Gul for his election as the President of the Republic of Turkey and wished him full success in his new and important mission at the service of Turkey. The Secretary General of the OIC also stated that the Third OIC Extraordinary Islamic Summit set specific goals for the economic sector of the OIC Member States, mainly the enhancement of intra-OIC trade, business cooperation, sustainable development and poverty alleviation. He emphasized that increasing intra-OIC trade requires the urgent adoption of institutional, financial and organizational measures. In this respect, he mentioned that the COMCEC has been entrusted with taking the necessary measures to raise the level of intra-OIC trade to 20% by the year 2015. To this end, he called on those Member States that have not yet signed or ratified the Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC) and the Protocol on the Trade Preferential Scheme among OIC Member States TPS-OIC (PRETAS) to promptly do so. Representatives of the each regional Groups of the OIC, H.E. Yousef Hussain Kamal, Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Commerce of the State of Qatar, H.E. Mamady Traore, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of the Republic of Guinea and H.E. Dr. Mohammed Hadi Zahedi Vafa, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance of the Islamic Republic of Iran also addressed the Opening Ceremony. The Forum was also attended by Professor Dr. Muhammed Yunus, Founder of Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate on Micro-Credit Financing. Prof. Yunus spoke on micro finance which was the Exchange of Views by Ministers and Head of Delegations of the 23rd Session of the COMCEC. Prof. Yunus shared the experience of the Grameen Bank and demonstrated how feasible it in to lift people from poverty. He declared that Bangladesh is in the light track to half poverty by 2015, as targeted in the Millennium Development Goals number 1. At the last day of the 23rd Session of the COMCEC, a signing Ceremony took place in which Cameroon, Guinea, Malaysia, Senegal and Sierra Leone signed various OIC Agreements on Economic Cooperation. The COMCEC Session adopted the Resolution (1) of the 23rd Session of the COMCEC and Resolution (2) on Matters Related to Economic Assistance to Some Countries. The Session also approved the Report of the OIC General Secretariat on the implementation of the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action in the field of economy and trade. The 23rd Session of the COMCEC also approved the report of the Forum on Enhancement and Promotion of Trade and Investment in Cotton Sector among the OIC Member Countries was organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Turkey in collaboration with the OIC General Secretariat and held in Istanbul on 12-13 November 2007. The Session also discussed the OIC Islamic Trade Fair, which will be held in Dakar, Senegal in 21-25 November 2007.
