The 17th Meeting Of COMCEC Tourism Working Group

The 17th meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held virtually on 23 September 2021, with the theme “Mitigation Strategies for Tourism After Covid-19”.

Representatives of 12 member countries have attended the meeting. COMCEC Coordination Office and representatives of WTTC, SESRIC and SMIIC have also attended the meeting.

Member country representatives shared their experiences, achievements and challenges regarding harm reduction strategies in their countries. Participants conveyed their thoughts on the aforementioned theme and exchanged views on the “Mitigation Strategies for Tourism After Covid-19” determined 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 on the Meeting, follow the links below:

The 16th Meeting of the COMCEC Financial Cooperation Working Group was held on September 9th-10th, 2021, in a virtual-only format with the theme of “The Role of Islamic Finance in Supporting Microenterprises and SMEs against COVID-19”.

The representatives of 21 Member States, which have notified their focal points for the Financial Cooperation Working Group, attended the Meeting. The meeting was further attended by the representatives of the SESRIC, SMIIC, IsDB, CIBAFI, OIC Exchanges Forum, COMCEC Capital Markets Regulators Forum, OIC-COMCEC Central Banks Forum, Participation Banks Association of Turkey (TKBB), Ziraat Portföy, and COMCEC Coordination Office.

The Representatives of the Member States have shared their experiences, achievements, and challenges on improving the role of Islamic Finance in supporting SMEs against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Meeting has also considered the all case-country studies along with the final draft of the research report prepared on the said theme and participants formulated policy recommendations that will be submitted to the Ministerial Exchange of Views Session of the 37th COMCEC Session.

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

OICSMIIC Halal Quality Infrastructure Training
9th Call For Project Proposals

The CCO is calling for project proposals to be financed in 2022 in selected sectoral themes. Applications will be closed on September 30th, 2021.

Project owners may consider designing certain activities (training, workshop etc.) online due to the circumstances imposed by the pandemic. Click here to proceed to online application system. Please contact CCO (cpf@comcec.org) for further inquiries.

IMPORTANT: Please note that there will be another call for project proposals in October under COMCEC COVID Response Program which is directly related to mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on member country economies. You can submit your project proposals which are directly related to COVID-19 pandemic under COMCEC COVID Response Program.

Community Based Tourism Through The Promotion Of Heritage Sites

The New Research Report called “Improving the Resilience of Tourism in Al-Quds: The Way Forward for a Competitive Destination Management” has been published as the outcome of the first project implemented under the COMCEC Al-Quds Program in collaboration with the Ministry of National Economy of Palestine and Al-Quds Tourism and Heritage Council (ATHC). This Project aimed at analyzing the tourism infrastructure and developing a tourism destination roadmap for the city.

The report reviews the tourism trends in Al-Quds, analyses the views of tourists, international tour operators, and local stakeholders, presents an environmental analysis, analyses the tourism value chain in Al-Quds, makes comparisons with benchmarking destinations and concludes with a general needs assessment of tourism sector in Al-Quds. It ultimately provides a roadmap and set of policy recommendations that may be useful for policy-makers and other relevant tourism stakeholders in Al-Quds Al-Sharif for future use. The Study also provides a basis for the projects to be financed and implemented under the Grant Scheme for Supporting Non-Profit Organizations within the framework of the COMCEC Al-Quds Program.

The Summary and Full Version of the Report can be downloaded via the links below: