Al-Othaimeen: Series of Actions to Tackle Challenges of Unemployment in OIC Member States

07/03/2017 - The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen has stressed that the General Secretariat is implementing some series of actions to tackle the challenges of increasing youth unemployment and low industrial capacity utilization in OIC Member States.

This was contained in a speech he delivered at the 34th Ordinary Session of the Board of Directors of Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT), a subsidiary organ of the OIC, held at Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, on 7-8 March 2017.

Al-Othaimeen explained that the session comes at a challenging time economically for the Islamic World, for many reason which include inadequate investment in the critical sectors of the economies of OIC Member States, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the global collapse of commodity prices, and the resultant effect of this has been declining economic growth in many OIC Member States.

The Secretary General noted that the General Secretariat has received inputs from Member States on their areas of need on trade related matters. He stressed that such measures would foster stronger intra-OIC cooperation in the domains of trade, tourism and investment mobilization, “much as they would also boost intra-OIC solidarity necessary for the realization of the objectives of our multilateral institution.”

The Secretary General added that it is important to take into account the relevant OIC resolutions on the additional measures needed for the operationalization of the Trade Preferential System among the Member States (TPS-OIC) stressing that “the Single Window Modality, the development of tradable commodities such as cassava, wheat, rice and cotton, as well as the implementation of the OIC Framework for Tourism Development are all projects and initiatives of paramount importance to our Member States.”

The agenda of the 34th Ordinary Session of the Board of Directors of Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) included speeches by Mr. Mohamed Benayyad, Secretary General of the Ministry in Charge of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco; Mr. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO - ITFC (IDB Group); and Dr. El Hassane Hzaine, Director General of ICDT and the launching of OIC Trade Map.

Source: http://www.oic-oci.org/topic/?t_id=13250&t_ref=5795&lan=en