OIC MULLS INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON FINANCIAL CRISIS

BY MUIN ABDUL MAJID

DUBAI, April 6 (Bernama) -- The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) plans to convene an international forum on the global financial crisis in the next few months.

OIC secretary-general Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said the crisis was a
source of concern for all OIC member states, the general secretariat and its
organs.

He was speaking at the start of the three-day 32nd Session of the Islamic
Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs (ICECSA), which kicked off
Saturday in Jeddah.

OIC members, he said, should review their domestic as well as foreign
policies and focus on their economic and social cooperation to empower their
local markets to respond appropriately to new conditions brought about by the
global economic meltdown.

The secretary-general underscored the need to boost economic ties,
elaborating that they "embody the strongest linkage between the interests of
the people".


The ICECSA meeting, seen as a prelude to the 36th Session of the Council of
Foreign Ministers of the OIC Member States (CFM), examines draft decisions on
various dossiers before submitting them to the upcoming CFM scheduled to be
held in Damascus, Syria, from May 23 to 25.

Members of the bureau elected at the 32nd session of ICECSA comprised Syria
as president as well as three vice-presidents -- Malaysia, Palestine and
Guinea.

-- BERNAMA