Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The Collective Voice of The Muslim World
Date: 09/05/2007
(Istanbul, 9-11 May 2007) -------------------- Bismillahi Arrahmani Arrahim In the Name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful Your Excellency, the Representative of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, Distinguished Delegates and Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Assalamu Aleykum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh. I would like, first of all, to extend my greetings and best wishes to all the distinguished participants of this important Experts Group Meeting on Tourism Development. I should also like to express my thanks to the Government and People of the Republic of Turkey for kindly hosting this meeting and for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to all delegations. It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that the Second Experts Group Meeting on Tourism Development commences today to prepare the Strategic Plan for Tourism Development in OIC Member States. This is a sectoral expert group meeting within the framework of the follow-up and implementation mechanism of the OIC Plan of Action to Strengthen Economic and Commercial Cooperation among the Member States. Mr. Chairman, The Third Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit held in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, in December 2005, invited the Member States to strengthen their economic and commercial cooperation with a view to accelerating their development, combating poverty, and meeting the challenges of globalization. The Makkah Summit particularly underlined the necessity of increasing trade exchanges among the Member States and, in this context, decided to push up intra-OIC trade from 14% in 2005 to 20% by 2015. Additionally, Makkah Summit aims to improve all economic relations among Member States, including tourism. Tourism has also been identified as one of the ten priority areas of cooperation in the OIC Plan of Action to Strengthen Economic and Commercial Cooperation among Member States, which was adopted at the Tenth Session of the COMCEC in 1994 and subsequently endorsed by the Seventh Islamic Summit, held in Casablanca, in December 1994. This much awaited Experts Group Meeting will provide a significant contribution to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation among the OIC Member States generally, and in the domain of tourism, particularly. Critical momentum can be gained in achieving these objectives by encouraging the development of intra-OIC tourism and prioritizing joint regional tourism projects within the frameworks and spirits of the OIC Ten-year Programme of Action to Face the Challenges of the 21st Century and the 1994 OIC Plan of Action. Fully aware of the importance of tourism in their development, the Member States have, for a long time now, intensified their efforts to develop this sector and strengthen cooperation in this field. That is why the Tourism Ministers of the OIC Member States have met consecutively in Isfahan, in 2000; in Kuala Lumpur, in 2001; in Riyadh, in 2003; in Dakar, in 2005 and in Baku, in 2006. I must express my thanks to all the Member States which have organized with great success the previous sessions of the ICTM. Given their rich and diverse natural geographical, historical and cultural heritage assets, the OIC Member States have, in fact, a vast potential for the development of a sustainable tourism sector. However, considering their modest share in the world tourism market and the concentration of tourism activity in a few of them, a large part of this inherent tourism potential remains untapped. The desirable levels of tourism activity have not yet been achieved in most OIC countries, and in the OIC region as a whole. Therefore, the potential of inherent natural tourism resources, although a crucial factor, cannot, by itself make a successful tourism industry unless properly planned and managed. As I have already indicated, tourism is a factor in economic development. Yet, it is an equally important factor in bringing people closer. Indeed, tourism and culture are mutually interdependent in concept and reality. Culture is one of the main contexts of international and inter-community contacts and tourism is a capital and direct tool for such contacts. Cultural tourism assumes momentous importance insofar as it constitutes an efficient means of conveying the history and cultural profile of nations and communities to the public at large, both domestically and abroad. Tourism is also an efficient tool for promoting the true image and objectives of civilizations and cultures by presenting the past and present through their products and achievements. In this manner, it also contributes to world peace through generating cultural understanding and rapprochement. The development of cooperation and the tourism sector in the OIC Member States are firmly bound on a direct course towards achieving the objectives of The OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action, such as those concerning the promotion of intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, communication and exchange of information, strengthening of international and inter-institutional cooperation inside and outside the Muslim world, among other objectives. Mr. Chairman, The primary task of this Experts Group Meeting is to prepare the Strategic Plan for Tourism Development in OIC Member States and to propose concrete projects or project ideas, upon which one can build the basic structure of cooperation in this important field. The Background Report prepared by the General Secretariat will, I hope, be of some use to this meeting. In this connection, I would like to express my appreciation to the concerned subsidiary organs, specialized and affiliated institutions of the OIC for their excellent working documents prepared for this meeting. I assure you of the continued active support of the OIC General Secretariat and all OIC organs and institutions in the process of implementation of the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action and OIC Plan of Action to Strengthen Economic and Commercial Cooperation among OIC Member States, of which this meeting is a part. I wish the Experts Group Meeting on Tourism Development all success. I thank you for your kind attention. Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullah Wabarakatuh.
