OIC urges Muslim countries to support free trade area

OIC urges Muslim countries to support free trade area

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference on Saturday
urged Muslim nations and business leaders to support an Islamic
free trade area, saying it was the way forward for economic
progress.

The initiative would "enable us to overcome the obstacles and
bottlenecks that hinder the development of trade and investment
between our countries," OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu said.

A number of Muslim nations are to sign a protocol on a
preferential trading system in November, but that only represents
"very modest progress", Ekmeleddin told the World Islamic
Economic Forum in a speech read out by another official.

While the share of intra-OIC trade in Muslim countries'
overall trade had improved in the last few years from 10 percent
in 2000 to 13.5 percent in 2003, it remained low, he said.

"Such a situation is the result of a large number of major
obstacles, which impeded the wide expansion of trade and
investment, namely tariff, non-tariff and administrative
obstacles and lack of communication and transport means and
inappropriate financing schemes," he said.

Ekmeleddin warned that Muslim nations would be disadvantaged
if they failed to forge multilateral trading alliances.

"The current world conjecture is marked by the increasing
emergence of regional groupings where isolated countries cannot
survive," he said.

"We therefore should pool our resources together and undertake
common, global and sensible action to handle efficiently our
economic situations and set up our economic infrastructures in a
bid to alleviate poverty."

More than 500 government officials and business leaders from
44 countries are attending the three-day forum, which is aimed at
boosting economic links between Muslim communities.

Organizers include Malaysia's foreign affairs ministry,
Pakistan's Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Morocco's
Islamic Centre for Development and Trade and Malaysian think tank
the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute.