Eleventh Call For Project Proposals Of COMCEC Project Funding

The short-list of the Eleventh Call for Project Proposals of COMCEC Project Funding has been announced. COMCEC Coordination Office will contact the focal points whose projects are short-listed in the coming days. The details are in the Project Management Information System. To access the system, please click https://project.comcec.org/

39th Ministerial Session Of The COMCEC

The 39th Ministerial Meeting of the COMCEC was held under the auspices of H.E. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, President of the Republic of Türkiye, on 4-5 December with the participation of over 500 delegates, 35 of which were Ministers and Deputy Ministers from 51 countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and 24 international organizations. Throughout the meeting, 48 bilateral talks were carried out between Member Countries, international organizations and private sector representatives.

The Ministerial Meeting commenced on 4 December 2023 with the opening speech of the H.E. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN, President of the Republic of Türkiye. Following His Excellency President, respectively, OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha and the Heads of Delegation of Qatar, Senegal and Kazakhstan on behalf of the three geographical regions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation delivered their speeches. In addition, the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank, Mr. Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser made a speech at the opening session.

The theme of this year’s COMCEC Ministerial Exchange of Views Session was determined as “Improving E-commerce Capacities of the OIC Member Countries” in order to share experiences and discuss cooperation opportunities among Member Countries.

Before the COMCEC Ministerial Exchange of Views Session Mr. Abdelhamid MAMDOUH, former Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO, delivered a keynote speech on recent trends in e-commerce, the rise of digital services trade and the role of trade agreements in non-trade issues.

In the Ministerial Exchange Session, chaired by H.E. Vice President Mr. Cevdet YILMAZ, the Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the Member Countries made statements and interventions on their country experiences with respect to the theme of the Ministerial Exchange of Views Session. In this framework, they emphasized the actions taken to address the main challenges faced by the Member Countries in e-commerce and digitalization as well as their efforts to strengthen the necessary infrastructure in this domain. They also stressed that cooperation in the field of information technologies would make a great contribution to achieving considerable progress in this crucial field.

2nd Technical Meeting on the COMCEC SME Programme

The 2nd Technical Meeting of the COMCEC SME Programme was held online on 15 November 2023. At the aforementioned meeting, the efforts towards the establishment of a comprehensive SME Programme together with the relevant Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member Countries and OIC Institutions within the scope of the decision of the COMCEC Ministerial Meeting were reviewed. The main cooperation areas of the SME Programme, the objectives and tools in these areas have also been determined at the Meeting.

The 11th Call for Proposals has been announced by the COMCEC for the projects to be supported in 2024 in the sectoral themes identified within the scope of COMCEC Project Funding.

Applications will be made between 1-31 October 2023.

Click here to proceed to online application system. Please contact CCO (cpf@comcec.org) for further inquiries.

21st Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group

The 21st Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on 16-17 October 2023, in Ankara, Türkiye, with the theme of Improving E-Commerce Capacities of the OIC Member Countries.

The representatives of 23 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Trade Working Group, attended the Meeting. The meeting was further attended by the representatives of the General Secretariat of the OIC, SESRIC, SMIIC, IsDB, ICDT, and UNCTAD.

Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, successful practices, and challenges in improvement of e-commerce capacities. The Meeting has also considered all case-country studies along with the final draft of the research report prepared on the said theme and participants discussed policy recommendations that will be submitted to the Ministerial Session of the 39th COMCEC Session.

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

The 21st Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism WG

The 21st  Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on October 16th-17th, 2023 in Ankara, Türkiye, with the theme of “Promoting Entrepreneurship for Tourism Industry Competitiveness in the OIC Countries.”

The Meeting was attended by the representatives of 17  Member States. Representatives of COMCEC Coordination Office, ICCIA (Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture) and SESRIC( Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries) have also attended the Meeting.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding entrepreneurship in their respective countries. The participants have deliberated on the aforementioned theme and considered the study “Promoting Entrepreneurship for Tourism Industry Competitiveness in the OIC Countries” commissioned by the COMCEC Coordination Office.

In addition to the research report prepared on the aforementioned theme, the countries where case studies were conducted were discussed in detail at the meeting. Along with the opinions and suggestions of the participants and the findings revealed within the scope of the relevant study, policy recommendations on the subject were formed.

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