Qatari Economy and Trade Minister Calls for Practical Steps for Establishing Islamic Common Market

Istanbul , November 27 (QNA) - Qatar's Minister of Economy and Commerce HE Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Thani has stressed the need for studying practical steps for establishing an Islamic Common Market through the preparation to create a free trade zone among Islamic countries in which non-tariff barriers (NTBs) and restrictions would be removed gradually. HE the Minister said in his keynote speech on behalf of the Arab Group at the opening 30th Session of the COMCEC, currently being held in Istanbul ,Republic of Turkey. HE the Economy Minister stressed that the OIC members countries should keep up with international economic shifts based on the market's trend and inclusiveness, which make it to focus on economic integration among countries of the region , considering this trend as a necessary work in the world of the active economic blocs if the COMCEC countries want to protect their future interests. The 30th Session of the COMCEC was opened here today under the chairmanship of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is also Chairman of COMCEC, with the participation of OIC Ministers of Economy and commerce. HE Sheikh Ahmed praised the efforts being made by Turkey over the past thirty years in order to achieve COMCEC's objectives , noting importance of holding this meeting, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of COMCEC and 40th Anniversary of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group, which is an era marked by valuable achievements in joint economic and trade action fields . He noted that the sustainable development and the promotion of exchanges among OIC member States undoubtedly require peace and political stability, describing the Palestinian cause as the central issue of the Islamic nation. HE the Minister Economy Minister added that the Arab countries have adopted COMCEC's recommendations a matter which would push ahead cooperation in intra-regional trade development ,and would enable them to create a suitable climate , open doors investment , creating a well-developed financial markets and a transparent system of ownership and providing specialists that would make success of the private sector's contribution in the financing and implementing investment and infrastructure projects. He asserted that the GCC states have established a customs union since 1st January 2003 to unify customs tariff as well as applying the single entry among GCC countries that contributed to the launch of the joint Gulf market in 2008 . He stressed the importance of activating the regional trade agreements, the systems of trade preferences, saying the meeting would be taken into account the role of regional groupings as a fundamental building blocks for economic integration in the Islamic world. On the occasion of the commemoration of the three decades after the establishment of the COMCEC, HE Sheikh Ahmed has presented some suggestions and ideas that could be studied by the COMCEC at its next session, including adoption of the declaration on the establishment of a free trade zone among OIC countries as a stage for the establishing an Islamic Common market, as well as retaining the framework agreement on trade Preferences among Islamic countries as a legal framework for achieving this objective.(QNA)