RIYADH, 16 May 2005 — The Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) will strive to boost trade within the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) from its current level of 13 percent of their cumulative trade by organizing Islamic trade fairs and cultural festivals as part of a multi-pronged drive in that direction.
This was the message of Sheikh Saleh Kamel, the new chairman of ICCI, in his first meeting with newsmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Saturday. Aqeel Jassem, secretary general of ICCI, and Fahad Alslimy, assistant secretary general of the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, were among those present.
Earlier, Kamel said he had an audience with Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and sought support for overcoming the challenges facing the Islamic chamber. The meeting had strengthened his resolve to steer ICCI successfully despite the formidable challenges looming ahead.
In response to a question from Arab News on the Islamic chamber’s strategy to stimulate intra-OIC trade amid the challenges looming ahead, Kamel said he would seek to capitalize on the strengths of the Islamic nation by making use of the complementarity of the resources and opportunities in the region. However, he would leave it to the member states to decide how best to achieve the target within the framework of the objectives.
The press conference brought forth a range of issues facing ICCI. Among them was the lack of a unified strategy to ensure that the member states would not duplicate products manufactured in the region or that they would give preferential treatment to such products instead of importing them from outside the region. Arab News also drew attention to the problem of dumping in the region which was costing the Saudi economy alone SR20 billion annually, with foreign companies flooding the market with products that have become outdated in their home base.
While acknowledging the challenges, the ICCI chairman said he would seek to capitalize on their strengths of the member states for pushing forward intra-regional trade. “The factors the unite the member countries outweigh those that divide them. I shall strive to build on their strengths.” In this context, he mulled organizing Islamic trade fairs as a means of facilitating greater interaction among traders and consumers. Kamel also floated the idea of holding cultural festivals among the member states as part of his strategy for reaching out to the people.
Among the factors inhibiting the growth of intra-OIC trade, Kamel said, was the lack of a free trade zone. This subjected the member states’ products to a crippling taxation regime. The ICCI chief reminded the member states that it was time to dismantle the trade barriers when the international community was doing the same. “We have got to have a win-win situation for the OIC trade block in line with the prevailing trend at the international level,” he observed.
