JEDDAH, 26 April 2008 — Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) announced the establishment of International Zakah Commission and Waqf (endowments) Commission at the 24th general assembly held here Thursday night.
At the meeting, chairman of the board of directors of the ICCI, Saleh Kamel, said that there are two parts of Islamic heritage they want to revive: Zakah (Islamic taxation) and Waqf (endowments), which he called an essential Islamic institution. The chairman added they have established a number of endowment offices in North and West Africa.
Kamel said the chamber has achieved in the past three years half of its 10-year goals.
He also announced the launching of the Forsa Investment Company with a capital of $100 million. The company aims to build smaller companies in member states and sell them later on, he said.
Kamel called on businessmen to provide more support for the chamber saying they are one of the two major obstacles facing the chamber. Businessmen view the chamber as charity and not as an investment opportunity. The second is bureaucracy in the Islamic world, he said. Bureaucracy and bribery go hand-in-hand, he added.
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of Makkah province, patronized the opening ceremony of the 24th general assembly of the ICCI. Prince Khaled was received by Organization of the Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Kamel and Chairman of JCCI Saleh Al-Turki. The meeting was also attended by Minister of Commerce & Industry Abdullah Zainal Alireza.
Members spoke of the importance of investing in crops in light of the world food shortage and boosting their imports in the world market to new levels.
Ihsanoglu said on the sideline of general assembly, that the last OIC summit in Senegal emphasized on the economic situation in Islamic countries due to its vital essence in raising the Islamic nation in the human development field. He highlighted the role played by the chamber.
