Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: Trade body chief calls for revamping

Low level of trade within OIC is dismal considering enormous potential

KARACHI: Low level of trade among Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) members is disconcerting given the close geographical proximity and religious and cultural ties. This concern was highlighted by Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) Senior Vice President Shaikh Khalid Tawab.

He supported his argument by adding that trade within OIC members was just a small fraction - 19% - of the total trade of these countries. The real task, he said, was translating the enormous potential in terms of resources into tangible trade ties.

Promotion of economic linkage within Muslim communities by creating opportunities could help generate greater flow of capital from within and beyond the Islamic world, said Tawab quoted in the press release.

The present share of OIC in trade of Pakistan (32%) is unsatisfactory. He suggested that Pakistan needs to send fact-finding missions to explore business opportunities. He urged the government to direct all embassies of Pakistan to open display centres in their premises for showcasing exportable products of Pakistan.

He also stated that Pakistan was very keen to expand its trade with OIC members where there is a huge potential of rice, mangoes, dairy products, fresh vegetable and fruits.

He said that the OIC bloc was the largest bloc in the world in term of number of countries, represented one fourth of total land with 22% of the world population. However, the share of OIC member states in global GDP was only 8% and they constituted nearly 2% of world trade.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2016.

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