The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on October 23rd, 2014 in Crowne Plaza Hotel Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and Trade Liberalisation Efforts in the OIC Member States with a Special Emphasis on the TPS-OIC”.

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 18 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Trade Working Group namely, Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Yemen. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB/ITFC), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), World Customs Organization (WCO) and Chamber of Commerce of Indonesia (KADIN) have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges in the area of trade liberalization. Moreover extensive deliberations were made on the Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the OIC (TPS-OIC) with a view to establish policy advices for rationalization of the System.

The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and Trade Liberalisation Efforts in the OIC Member States with a Special Emphasis on the TPS-OIC” commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO) and the “COMCEC Trade Outlook 2014-Revised Edition” prepared by the CCO.

For further information on the Meeting, follow the links below:

The 3rd Meeting of the COMCEC Financial Cooperation Working Group was held on October 16th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Risk Management in Islamic Financial Instruments.”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 18 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Financial Cooperation Working Group namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Niger, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), SESRIC, Secretariat of the OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum, Secretariat of the COMCEC Capital Markets Regulators Forum, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), World Bank Global Islamic Finance Development Center and Participation Banks Association of Turkey have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have deliberated on risk management in Islamic financial instruments, identified challenges faced by the Member Countries, and provided policy recommendations to enhance the cooperation in this field. The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Risk Management in Islamic Financial Instruments” and “Financial Outlook of the OIC Member Countries 2014”.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

“Risk Management in Islamic Financial Instruments” “Financial Outlook of the OIC Member Countries 2014”

The 4th The 4th Meeting of the COMCEC Agriculture Working Group was held on September 25th, 2014 with the theme of “Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access in the OIC Member Countries”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 13 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Agriculture Working Group namely, Afghanistan, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Senegal, Sudan, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank (IDB), World Bank Ankara Office and Polatlı Grain Exchange have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have deliberated on the policy options/advices for Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access and shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding small-scale farmers in their respective countries. Moreover, the Studies titled “Facilitating Smallholder Farmers’ Market Access in the OIC Member Countries” and the “COMCEC Agriculture Outlook 2014” are also considered during the Meeting.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group was held on September 18th, 2014 in Crowne Plaza Hotel Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Institutional System of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the OIC Member Countries”.

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 15 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Poverty Alleviation Working Group namely, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Chad, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Suriname and Turkey. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), World Bank Ankara Office and Tepebaşı Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, best practices, challenges and policy implementations in increasing the capacity of the human resources in the SSN system and Promoting Management Information System (MIS) in the COMCEC Member Countries. The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Institutional System of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the OIC Member Countries” and “COMCEC Poverty Outlook 2014 –Revised Edition” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The Fourth Meeting of the COMCEC Transport and Communications Working Group was held on September 11th, 2014 in Crowne Plaza Hotel Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Developing Air Linkages to Sustain Tourism among the OIC Member States”.

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Transport and Communications Working Group namely, Afghanistan, Benin, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Malaysia, Niger, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), Turkish Airlines, Air Arabia, ATM Dalaman Airport and ICF International have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements, challenges and policy implementations in developing air linkages in their respective countries. The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Developing Air Linkages to Sustain Tourism among the OIC Member States” and “COMCEC Transport Outlook 2014 –Revised Edition” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The 4th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on September 4th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Enhancing the Capacity of Tourism Workforce in the OIC Member Countries for Improved Tourism Service Quality.”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Tourism Working Group namely, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Niger, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Turkey. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, SESRIC, Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) as well as representatives from private sector and some other guests have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding tourism investments in their respective countries. Moreover, the Studies titled “Enhancing the Capacity of Tourism Workforce in the OIC Member Countries for Improved Tourism Service Quality” commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office and the “COMCEC Tourism Outlook 2014-Revised Edition” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office are also considered during the Meeting.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The 3rd Meeting of the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working Group was held on April 10th, 2014 with the theme of “Monitoring Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region.”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 19 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Poverty Alleviation Working Group namely, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank, SESRIC, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Deniz Feneri Association and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding monitoring mechanisms of the Social Safety Net (SSN) Programmes in their respective countries. Moreover, the Studies titled “Monitoring Mechanisms of the Social Safety Net Programmes in the COMCEC Region.” commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office and the “COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Outlook 2014” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office are also considered during the Meeting.

For further information please click the links given below:

The 2nd Meeting of the COMCEC Financial Cooperation Working Group was held on March 27th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the COMCEC Member States.”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 17 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Financial Cooperation Working Group namely, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, The Gambia, Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, SESRIC, Secretariat of the OIC Member States’ Stock Exchanges Forum, Secretariat of the COMCEC Capital Markets Regulators Forum, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), World Bank, World Bank Global Islamic Finance Development Center and Participation Banks Association of Turkey have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have deliberated on the institutional framework for financial inclusion in the COMCEC Countries, barriers on enhancing financial inclusion and measures for reducing financially excluded population in the COMCEC Countries and the policy recommendations for enhancing financial inclusion in the Region. The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the COMCEC Countries.”

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The Third Meeting of the COMCEC Transport and Communications Working Group was held on March 13th, 2014 in Crowne Plaza Hotel Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Developing Multimodal Freight Transport (MFT) Among the OIC Member Countries: Current Implementations and Policy Recommendations

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 15 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Transport and Communications Working Group namely, Afghanistan, Djibouti, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Senegal, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Uganda. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), International Union For Road-Rail Combined Transport (UIRR), Association of International Forwarding and Logistics Service Providers in Turkey (UTIKAD) and KombiConsult GmbH have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements, challenges and policy implementations in Multimodal Freight Transport (MFT) in their respective countries. The Meeting has considered the Studies namely “Developing Multimodal Freight Transport (MFT) Among the OIC Member Countries: Status of the Implementation of MFT among the OIC Member Countries” and “COMCEC Transport Outlook 2014” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below:

The 3rd Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on March 4th, 2014 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Enabling Tourism Investment Climate in the COMCEC Region.

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 14 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Tourism Working Group namely, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyz Republic, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, SESRIC, Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT), International Finance Corporation (IFC), representatives from private sector and some other guests have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding tourism investments in their respective countries. Moreover, the Studies titled “Enabling Tourism Investment Climate: Challenges and Prospects for Tourism Investments in the COMCEC Region” commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office and the “COMCEC Tourism Outlook 2014” prepared by the COMCEC Coordination Office are also considered during the Meeting.

For further information regarding the Meeting, follow the links below: