Report Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-Up Committee of the Comcec
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OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP COMCEC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference REPORT TWENTY FOURTH MEETING OF THE FOLLOW-UP COMMITTEE OF THE COMCEC Antalya, 13-15 May 2008 COMCEC Coordination Office State Planning Organization Ankara, May 2008 OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP REPORT TWENTY FOURTH MEETING OF THE FOLLOW-UP COMMITTEE OF THE COMCEC Antalya, 13-15 May 2008 COMCEC Coordination Office State Planning Organization Ankara, May 2008 ADDRESS: COMCEC COORDINATION OFFICE within STATE PLANNING ORGANIZATION Necatibey Cad. 108 Ankara-TURKEY Phone : 90-312-294 5510 90-312-294 55 03 Fax : 90-312-294 55 77 Website : http://www.dpt.gov.tr www.comcec.org e-mail : [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Report of the Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference 7 ANNEXES I. List of Participants of the Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC 49 II. Message of H.E. Abdullah GÜL, President of the Republic of Turkey and Chairman of the COMCEC 61 III. Opening Statement by H.E. Nazım EKREN, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey IV. Statement by H.E. Professor Ekmeleddin İHSANOĞLU, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference V. Agenda of the Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-up Committee 83 VI The report on the Review of the Implementation of the OIC 87 Ten-Year Program of Action VII. Background Report and Report by the OIC General Secretariat on the Review of the Implementation of the Plan of Action 105 VIII. Report of the 12th Sessional Committee Meeting 137 DC. Report by IDB on the Expansion of Intra-OIC Trade 147 X. ICDT's Annual Report on Trade Among the Member States of OIC 153 3 Page XI. The report of the First Meeting of the Task Force to increase intra-OIC Trade 173 XII. Report by ICCI on Private Sector Meetings among the OIC Member Countries 201 XIII. Report by ICDT on Trade Fairs of Islamic Countries XIV. Report by the IDB Group's World Trade Organization- Related Technical Assistance to the "OIC" Member Countries XV. Report by ICDT on Issues Relating to the Activities of the World Trade Organization XVI. Concept Paper by the OIC General Secretariat on Capacity Building Programme for OIC Countries XVII. Report of the First Meeting of the Steering Committee for the implementation of the OIC Cotton Cooperation Programme... XVIII. Draft Agenda of the Twenty Fourth Session of the COMCEC 263 XIX. Closing Statement by H.E. Dr. Ahmet TIKTIK, Chairman of the Closing Session of the Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC 267 4 REPORT TWENTY FOURTH MEETING OF THE FOLLOW-UP COMMITTEE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL COOPERATION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (Antalya, 13-15 May 2008) OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP Original: English REPORT TWENTY FOURTH MEETING OF THE FOLLOW-UP COMMITTEE OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE FOR ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL COOPERATION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE (Antalya, 13-15 May 2008) 1. The Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC) was held in Antalya on 13-15 May 2008. 2. Representatives of the following Member States of the Committee attended the Meeting: 1- Republic of Turkey : Chairman (Permanent) 2- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia : Vice Chairman (Permanent) 3- State of Palestine : Vice Chairman (Permanent) 4- Republic of Senegal : Chairman of the Current Summit 5- State of Kuwait : Vice Chairman (Representing the Arab Region) 6- Islamic Republic of Iran : Vice Chairman (Representing the Asian Region) 7- Republic of Cameroon : Vice Chairman (Representing the African Region) 8- Islamic Republic of Pakistan: Rapporteur 9- State of Qatar : Member of the Previous Bureau 10- Republic of Indonesia : Member of the Previous Bureau 3. Malaysia also participated in the Meeting as the Chairman of the Previous Summit. 7 OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP 4. Representatives of Iraq, Uganda, United Arab Emirates and Yemen also attended the Meeting as observers. 5. OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin İHSANOĞLU attended the 24th Meeting of the Follow-up Committee for the first time in the history of the COMCEC. 6. In addition, Representatives of the General Secretariat and the following OIC subsidiary organs, specialized and affiliated institutions attended the Meeting: - Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) - Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) - Islamic Development Bank (IDB) - Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) - Islamic University of Technology (IUT) - International Islamic Trade Financing Corporation (ITFC) - Organization of the Islamic Ship-owners Association (OISA) - Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF-DC) 7. UNIDO Regional Office in Ankara has also attended the meeting. (The list of participants is attached as Annex I.) Opening Session (Agenda Item: 1) 8. Following a recitation from the Holy Qur'an, H.E. Nazım EKREN, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, inaugurated the Meeting. 9. H.E. Abdullah GÜL, President of the Republic of Turkey and Chairman of COMCEC sent a message to the meeting, which was read out by Mr. Ferden ÇARIKÇI, Advisor to the President for Foreign Affairs. In his message, H.E. Abdullah GÜL emphasized the importance of economic cooperation among the OIC Member States and in his message drew attention to the latest developments in the world economy regarding the rising commodity prices which hit the least developed and developing countries most. H.E. GÜL stressed the need to cooperate in this field within the framework of COMCEC which is the responsible OIC Platform for economic and commercial cooperation 8 OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP 10. H.E. President GÜL underlined the fact that intra-OIC trade has reached the level of 16,3 % in 2006, and welcomed the new mechanisms developed within the COMCEC and IDB to further promote intra-OIC trade. President GÜL also underscored the importance of TPS-OIC in reaching the target of % 20 increase of intra-OIC trade by 2015 set by the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action. In this regard, H.E. GÜL called upon the member states who have not yet done so to sign and ratify the Framework Agreement, PRETAS, and Rules of Origin as soon as possible. 11. H.E. Abdullah GÜL highlighted the significance of fight against poverty in OIC countries and appreciated efforts for poverty alleviation. President GÜL also expressed his satisfaction with defining the 24th COMCEC theme for the Exchange of Views Session as "Improving Investment Climate in the OIC Member Countries". 12. H.E. Abdullah GÜL concluded his message with best wishes for the success of the Meeting. (A copy of the text of the Message of H.E. President Abdullah GÜL is attached as Annex II.) 13. Following the message of H.E President GÜL, H.E. Nazım EKREN addressed the Meeting. 14. Welcoming the delegates, H.E. Nazım EKREN, stressed the importance of the functions of the Follow-up Committee as described in following up the decisions taken by the previous COMCEC and preparing the agenda of the next one. In this framework, H.E. EKREN expressed his thanks to the Follow-up Committee members and OIC institutions for their invaluable contribution to the COMCEC activities. After giving a brief summary of the recent macro-economic outlook at the world level and within OIC community, he stressed the importance of economic cooperation among OIC members, one of the good examples of which is TPS-OIC. In this context, H.E. EKREN called upon the Member States concerned, to sign and ratify the PRETAS and Rules of Origin, for the operationalization of TPS-OIC by January 1, 2009. 15. H.E. Nazım EKREN stated that to secure sustainable increase in intra-OIC trade, foreign capital is considered to be of paramount importance. In this context, he emphasized that the theme of the Exchange of Views Session of the 24th COMCEC will be "Improving Investment Climate", which may constitute resourceful grounds for promoting foreign capital in OIC Member Countries. 16. H.E. EKREN also drew the attention of the participants to the recent hike in commodity prices. H.E. the Deputy Prime Minister stressed that rising food and oil 9 OIC/COMCEC-FC/24-08/REP prices will severely impact on the Least Developed Countries the most and COMCEC should adopt a proactive approach by establishing a working group with a view to studying causes and possible effects of the rise in commodity prices and potential areas of cooperation. (The text of the Statement of H.E. Nazım EKREN is attached as Annex III.) 17. H.E. Professor Ekmeleddin İHSANOĞLU, Secretary General of OIC, also made a statement at the meeting. In briefing on the results of the Dakar Summit, H.E. ÎHSANOGLU urged the member states to forge a new partnership for the benefit and prosperity of Muslim World. He also stressed the importance to reduce the debt burden of member states, particularly African Countries. The Secretary General requested the member states to address the issue of poverty alleviation with a view to ensuring provision of basic needs. 18. H.E. İHSANOĞLU commended the COMCEC for its remarkable achievements in achieving higher level of development and prosperity of the Member States as well as fostering economic and trade relations among them. The COMCEC has outstandingly performed to steer the trade negotiations under the Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System (TPSOIC) and the Protocol on Preferential Tariff Scheme (PRETAS).