OIC Chief calls for Knowledge-based Economies in OIC Countries

Jeddah, December 04, SPA -- The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic
Countries (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has underscored the need for both
inter-OIC cooperation and international partnership to enhance the popularization
of knowledge-based economies in OIC countries.



In his message to the International High-Level Conference on "Building Knowledge
Economies for Job Creation, Increased Competitiveness, and Balanced Development" ,
which concluded yesterday its three-day deliberations in Tunis, the
Secretary-General stressed the need to pool all available resources within and
outside the OIC region to overcome the current national, regional and gender
disparities in access to education, research and development.


Emphasizing that the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action recognized the accumulation
of human capital as a crucial factor in ensuring the realization of sustainable
growth, employment generation and balanced development, Professor Ihsanoglu
disclosed that the Vocational Education and Training Programme (VET) recently
launched at the just-concluded Economic Summit in Istanbul, Turkey on November 9,
2009 represented a pro-active step in the effort by the Muslim World to regain its
position as the world’s citadel of civilization, science, learning and
philosophy.

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