OIC Chief urges Partnership among Muslim Countries for economic progress 4 Jeddah

“I am pleased to note that all these efforts on the part of the OIC and its
several organs have started to bear fruit,” said the Secretary General.

Positive developments that have taken place include the rise of intra-OIC trade
from 14.5% in 2004 to 16.6% in 2008 and OIC countries share of world GDP increased
from 6.1% in 2007 to 7.3% in 2008.

Other projects have also been initiated to fast-track this process including the
OIC Five-Year Action Plan on Cotton (2007-2011); the Framework for Development and
Cooperation in the Domain of Tourism between Member States; the OIC Dakar-Port
Sudan Railway project as well as rapid implementation of such crucial programs as
poverty alleviation, micro-finance, food security and women empowerment,
particularly in the Least Developed Member States, and the five-year Special
Program for the Development of Africa (2008-2012).

He urged all distinguished delegates to freely discuss the important issue of
economic partnership. “The world is reshaping itself into larger economic
communities based on common interests and shared values. Ours is an organization
that can achieve greater successes if we unlock the innate energies of our citizens
in the direction of productive ventures,” stressed Ihsanoglu.
--SPA 11:03 LOCAL TIME 08:03 GMT NNNN