KL wants OIC members to boost investment<\/p>\n
Shanthy Nambiar and Yoolim Lee, Bloomberg\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Islamic
\ncountries should boost investments in telecommunications,
\ntransport and public utilities to spur economic growth and trade.<\/p>\n
Infrastructure facilities \"constitute the backbone of
\ndevelopment, and these need to be transformed to enhance
\nefficiency and to support businesses,\" Abdullah told about 600
\ngovernment officials, bankers and investors on Monday at the
\nfirst World Islamic Economic Forum in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
\nIslamic countries are already investing \"billions of dollars\" in
\ninfrastructure, he said.<\/p>\n
The suggestion from Abdullah came as the 57-member
\nOrganization of the Islamic Conference seeks ways to arrest the
\ndecline in their share of global exports and lagged trade with
\ncountries outside the world's largest Muslim grouping. Ten of the
\n11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are OIC
\ncountries. OIC members include Pakistan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia,
\nEgypt and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
There are an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide and the
\nnumber is forecast to increase 2.9 percent a year, Abdullah said.
\nThe gross domestic product of Islamic countries is less than 5
\npercent of the global economy and trade among these nations
\naccount for about 6 percent to 7 percent, or $800 billion, of
\ntotal trade, he said.<\/p>\n
Abdullah said Muslims in India, China and Russia, who are not
\nmember countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
\nalso represent key markets for growth.<\/p>\n
India, where an estimated 138 million of its 1.02 billion
\npeople are Muslims, posted economic expansion of 8.1 percent in
\nthe three months ended June 30, the fastest pace in more than a
\nyear as companies increased production to feed a consumer boom,
\nthe Central Statistical Organization said Sept. 30. India is
\nAsia's fourth-largest economy.<\/p>\n
China's economy expanded 9.5 percent from a year earlier in
\nthe first half to 6.74 trillion yuan ($833 billion), according to
\nthe statistics bureau. The country, Asia's second-largest
\neconomy, is the world's No. 1 consumer of steel, copper and coal.<\/p>\n
\"Should we combine these figures with the Muslim population in
\nthe OIC nations, it will provide us with an immensely huge
\nIslamic consumer market,\" Abdullah said.<\/p>\n
Islamic nations have attracted only a \"small share\" of global
\nforeign direct investment, and most of these have gone to middle-
\nincome and oil exporting countries, Abdullah said. Muslim
\nmajority countries such as Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi
\nArabia and Qatar are also members of OPEC. Saudi Arabia is the
\nworld's largest oil producer.<\/p>\n
\"While many Muslim countries are blessed with rich natural
\nresources, predominantly oil and gas, the long-term challenge is
\nto sustain economic growth by reducing over-reliance on these
\nresources,\" Abdullah said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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