Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 14/11/2007
Address of H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu OIC secretary general At The Inauguration of the 23rd Session of The Standing Committee For Economic And Trade Cooperation (COMCEC) Istanbul, Republic Of Turkey 14-17 NOVEMBER 2007 Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim Your Excellency President Abdullah Gul President of the Republic of Turkey And Chairman of the COMCEC Excellencies Honourable Delegates Ladies and Gentlemen, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu, Mr. President, It gives me great pleasure, in this happy occasion, to congratulate you, once again, for your election as the Eleventh (11th) President of the Republic of Turkey. I wish you full success in your new and important mission at the service of Turkey. I am confident that under your able and sagacious leadership, the relations between the Republic of Turkey and the Islamic world will continue to prosper and thrive. I recall with profound gratitude and greatly appreciate your deep interest in, and valued support, in your previous capacity as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. This is also for me a happy occasion to offer my congratulations to the COMCEC for having you as its Chairman. Our hopes are strong that we can rely on your customary support for the Organization of the Islamic Conference, with Turkey having played, over so many years, a pioneering role in promotion of economic and trade cooperation among the OIC Member States. Our confidence remains high that this strong support will not only attain higher grounds under your wise leadership, but also enhance rapidly the economic and commercial ties among the States, members of the OIC. I strongly believe that your insightful wisdom and sincere dedication to this end will further consolidate the role of this august body in resolving the pressing economic and commercial needs of the Islamic world. May I also express our thanks and appreciation for the Turkish Government’s efforts in hosting annual meetings of COMCEC and its Follow-up Committee on a regular basis and, particularly, with such high levels of competency and generosity, which have contributed immensely to the effectiveness of the COMCEC. Mr. President Excellencies Honourable Delegates We wish to bring to Your Excellency's kind attention the achievements of the OIC General Secretariat and its institutions over the past year, so that we may work together for the realization of our aspired goals and set our eyes on even higher ambitions. The Third OIC Extraordinary Islamic Summit of Makkah 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. The COMCEC has been entrusted with taking the necessary measures to raise the level of intra-OIC trade from 14% in 2005 to 20% by the year 2015. It is my full confidence that this matter is being given the attention it deserves by this august meeting. The Poverty Alleviation Fund established by the Makkah Summit of 2005 was officially launched by the President of the Republic of Senegal in Dakar on 30 May 2007 at the Board of Governors Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). So far, more than 2.6 billion US Dollars had been pledged by the OIC Member States. I am thankful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its generous contribution of one (1) billion US Dollars. I would like also to thank the State of Kuwait for its generous contribution of 300 million US Dollars. My gratitude goes to all other Member States that have contributed to this Fund so far, as well as the IDB which contributed 1 billion US Dollars. I appeal to the Member States who have not yet contributed to this Fund, to do so with a view of fostering the role of this Fund in improving the living conditions of the poor in our countries. We all know that the development of intra-OIC trade calls for increased efforts in the adoption of the required institutional, organic and financial steps. From this platform, I wish to appeal to the Member States that have not yet signed and/or ratified the Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System (TPS-OIC) and the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme (PRETAS), to do so promptly. I also express my satisfaction on the achievements of the Second Round of Trade Negotiations towards the formulation of the Rules of Origin and the discussion on Para-tariff and Non-tariff Measures. I am pleased that the Second Round of Trade Negotiating Committee successfully concluded in September 2007, in Ankara, Republic of Turkey, with the adoption of a New Agreement on the “Rules of Origin”. This Agreement on the Rules of Origin was signed by five (5) Member States; namely the Republic of Guinea, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey and United Arab Emirates. I am confident that more Member States will join this Agreement in a Special Ceremony organized at the margin of the 23rd Session of COMCEC. I invite all the participating delegations, along with the concerned Institutions to support the OIC General Secretariat and COMCEC Coordination Office so that the Protocol can enter into force by January 1st, 2009. Mr. President Excellencies Honourable Delegates The Republic of Turkey has contributed continuous and sustained strong efforts in the enhancement of intra-OIC cooperation in the area of cotton production and marketing. The Republic of Turkey hosted several Experts Group Meetings on cotton. I am quite confident that these efforts will encourage closer cooperation between cotton exporting and importing Member States of OIC to establish direct trade routes among them for better and more profitable marketing in the sector and, consequently, help curb the poverty challenges of many OIC Member States. I would like also to thank, at this junction, the Republic of Turkey for hosting the Forum of Improving Investment and Trade in Cotton Sector among OIC Member States which concluded yesterday. In this connection, I also urge Member States to further the development and diversification of their domestic production and foreign trade structures with a view to increasing their exports to the other OIC member countries and the world. Promotion of commercial ties among the Member States of the Organization will also contribute towards the success of the policies aiming at poverty alleviation. During my visits in a number of OIC African Member States and my consultations with their leaders, I was impressed by the genuine desire of these countries to foster their development by promoting trade and investment in agricultural sector, textile and food processing industries. The OIC institutions stand ready to take new initiatives in cooperation with OIC African Member States and other OIC Member States to support trade, investment and transfer of technology in favour of Africa, in particular, in the cotton and textile sectors as well as in the food industry. There is also a need to give some genuine consideration to the tourism sector as one of the priority fields, as a fundamental area in economic development and cultural exchange, as the language of rapprochement among the people of Islamic countries and as a significant source of revenues for the OIC Member States. Tourism also plays a critical role in eliminating or reducing poverty in many areas. The Second OIC Expert Group Meeting on Tourism Development which was held in Istanbul in May 2007, has also constituted an important step forward. This meeting adopted the Strategic Plan for the Development of Tourism in OIC Member States. The implementation of this Strategic Plan will contribute to intra-OIC tourism and will achieve fruitful results in this sector. In my capacity as the OIC Secretary General, I will extend my utmost support to the implementation of this strategic plan when it is endorsed by the COMCEC for the benefit of the Muslim world. I would also like, in this regard, to extend my thanks to the Republic of Azerbaijan for hosting as the current Chair of the Fifth Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM), the International Scientific Conference on the Role of Tourism in the Economies of the OIC Member States in Baku in June 2007. I wish to express my appreciation to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) for the successful organisation of the First Private Sector Tourism Forum of the OIC Member States in Jeddah from 30 October to 1st November 2007. Mr. President Excellencies Honourable Delegates Whoever fails to thank others does not meet God’s thanks to him, and we at the OIC General Secretariat have for many years witnessed the important role played by the OIC subsidiary organs, and specialized and affiliated institutions working in the field of economic and trade development: the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRTCIC), the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and the Islamic Ship-Owners Association (OISA). This is the place to pay tribute to the cooperation among the OIC Institutions active in the field of economy. It is my earnest hope that this present session will adopt appropriate resolutions to serve the Islamic Ummah, to uplift its peoples and help them keep abreast of our contemporary advanced world. My sincere thanks are due once again to the Republic of Turkey, the President of the Republic, the People and Government of Turkey for hosting this session, and for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to us. We are also appreciative of the fine coordination and arrangements provided by the State Planning Organisation and the COMCEC Coordination Office to ensure the success of the session. Thank you all. Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu
