OIC needs economic muscle to be respected

OIC needs economic muscle to be respected
JP/7/STAR

OIC needs economic muscle to be respected

Wong Sulong
The Star
Asia News Network
Selangor, Malaysia

Finance, trade and economic ministers of the Organization of
Islamic Conference (OIC) are in Kuala Lumpur over the next few
days attending a series of dialogs, meetings and conferences on
matters pertaining to their portfolios.

The importance of the Kuala Lumpur forums should not be
underestimated; indeed they could provide the platform to re-
energize the OIC and make it a strong, credible voice of the
Islamic world in the international community.

Malaysia, as the OIC chairman, is playing a major role to re-
energize the OIC and hopes OIC members will agree -- during the
Kuala Lumpur forums, which include the 30th annual meeting of the
Islamic Development Bank (IDB) -- to create an economic role for
the organization to complement its current political focus.

Up to now, the OIC has, and rightfully so, focused on
political issues close to the heart of the world Muslim
community, in particular, the issue of Palestine.

In some ways, the OIC has been successful in highlighting the
injustices inflicted upon the Palestinian people, as well as
other Muslim communities.

But in the eyes of Malaysia and its Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi, the OIC needs to do more, and creating an economic
role for the OIC would serve to enhance its stature and voice.

Muslims cannot expect others to accord them respect and
dignity if they remain poor, backward, disunited and fearful of
outside influences.

According to some surveys, Muslims form about 15 percent of
the world's population of 6.5 billion.

The Muslim world controls 60 percent of many of the world's
resources, such as oil, minerals and timber. Yet, the Muslim
world accounts for only 7 percent of world trade.

At the same time, there are great disparities in the Muslim
world.

During the next couple of days, the OIC ministers would be
discussing ways to increase intra-OIC trade, investments and
financial cooperation.

The IDB has done a reasonably good job in helping to alleviate
poverty among its poorest members, spending US$40 billion (RM152
billion) over the past 30 years.

Malaysia is proposing that rich OIC members set aside a small
portion of their substantial foreign reserves, currently held
mainly in US treasury bills, to create a bond fund that could be
used to finance infrastructure development in poor OIC states.

At the risk of appearing to trumpet Malaysia's successes, I
dare say Malaysia is a good model for Muslim governments seeking
to integrate their economies into the global system, while
maintaining sound Islamic financial principles.

Take the Malaysian experience in Islamic banking.

The country is not the first to introduce Islamic banking, but
over the past 20 years, the Malaysian Islamic banking model has
expanded rapidly and co-exists side by side with the Western
banking system.

The secret of its success lies in the pragmatist approach and
ability to come out with innovative Islamic financial products.

Many countries -- Muslim and Western -- are now adopting the
Malaysian Islamic banking model.

Malaysia's handling of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998
is also a lesson not only in political courage and economic
management but the evolution of Malaysian society.

Many Asian countries were devastated by the financial
meltdown; the worst being Indonesia which saw riots and killings
of thousands of innocents.

But Malaysians endured the financial crisis without
recriminations.

OIC members need to add an economic dimension to the
organization's political focus.

Many OIC member states are enjoying record revenues because of
high oil prices and this is a golden opportunity to build
capacity in the Muslim world.