OIC businesses want more intra-Islamic trade

JAKARTA (JP): The Islamic private sector meeting in Bandung, West Java, and Jakarta is expected to produce a declaration on Wednesday calling for concerted efforts to enhance trade and investment flows between Islamic countries.

The draft declaration, named the Bandung Declaration, called on all Islamic countries in the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) to further liberalize their economy and promote intra- Islamic trade.

"The private sector representatives... call upon all OIC countries to make efforts to reduce levels of tariffs and other barriers... and to expedite the implementation of the preferential trade system among the OIC countries," the draft declaration read.

Representatives of the private sector from OIC countries held a meeting in Bandung from Oct. 17 to Oct. 19, which will carry on here from today until Wednesday. This meeting is the third after previous meetings in Turkey in October 1994 and Egypt in October 1995.

The third meeting of the organization is to coincide with the 14th conference of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was opened by President Soeharto in Bandung on Oct. 17.

To promote trade among OIC countries, the organization called on member countries to give priority to extending export credits to Islamic exporters without credit ceilings, to encourage intra- Islamic trade.

They also called on financial institutions and banks in OIC countries to extend refinancing facilities by giving preferential discounting rates for export bills.

"The private sector representatives... call for the full operation of the Export Credit Insurance and Investment Guarantee Scheme at the Islamic Development Bank with priority at the initial stage to be given to the setting up of an export refinancing mechanism," it said.

Meanwhile, the vice-president of the Islamic Development Bank Fuad Abdullah Al-Omar said at the conference that the bank remains committed to providing trade financing schemes for the private sector.

He further underlined that, in the face of challenges due to the World Trade Organization agreements, OIC member countries should take the necessary initiatives to derive maximum benefit from the agreements.

He said a committee comprised of the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other relevant OIC institutions would be useful. It could study the possibility of coordinating the activities of the existing national or regional funds and banks to help develop the requisite financial mechanism to foster intra-Islamic trade, he said.

In addition to trade, the document called for greater investment flows among OIC member countries through the establishment of joint venture projects.

It also called for the creation of employment opportunities through investment, the exchange of raw materials, technology, know-how, equity participation and marketing skills.

"The private sector representatives regard the cooperation among Islamic countries in the field of economic activities as important in achieving common interests," the statement read. (rid)