The secretariat general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) plans to increase the rate of trade exchanges among its member countries from 13% to 20%, according to an outline of the organisation’s 10-year action programme, which OIC deputy Secretary General Atta Manane Bakhit unveiled Saturday in Saly Portudal (80km South-west of Dakar).
Bakhit was speaking on the sidelines of the first Islamic humanitarian NGO forum, which opened on Friday in the Senagelese coastal town.
The OIC’s 10-year action plan represents the organisation’s new vision, designed to enable it get “a broader view in order to plan its actions and better meet its goals”.
According to Bakhit, the plan will take into account several issues that will be examined during the OIC’s leaders’ summit on 13-14 March in Dakar.
Bakhit said economic aspect was high among the issues on the agenda because “underdevelopment remains the main problem of Muslim countries when one knows that 40% of the member countries are African”.
He said the OIC secretariat planned to increase the rate of trade exchanges among Muslim countries from 13% to 20% in 10 years, while noting that many efforts were needed to achieve the goal without delay.
The removal of custom and administrative barriers among Islamic countries is also on the OIC action programme, just like the development of the African cotton.
According to Bakhit, a meeting of leading businessmen of the islamic Ummah, cotton industrials and producers will soon be organised in Mali, following the first such meeting two years ago in Burkina Faso.
The OIC political future is also in the heart of the organisation’s 10-year action plan, as the heads of state are expected to repeat activities to ensure a peaceful and united Muslim world.
The civil society, scientific research and new technologies will also feature prominently in the action plan
