by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World
Jeddah : The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) took part in the fourth ordinary session of the summit of the G5 Sahel countries comprising Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger, held in Nigerien capital Niamey last week.
The summit, attended by the heads of state of the five countries, discussed among other things, the operationalization of the G5 Sahel Joint Force to combat rising insecurity in their common space.
OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, in his statement to the summit, delivered on his behalf by Ambassador Yahaya Lawal, reiterated the full solidarity and support of the OIC to the Sahel countries in their endeavors to achieve development, security, countering terrorism and climate change. He recalled the adoption of Resolution 55/44-Pol on the G5 Sahel Joint Force (FC-G5S) by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on 10 July 2017 and pledged his commitment to its implementation.
The summit was also attended by other key international partners of the Sahel region including 12 countries and 13 international, regional and sub-regional organizations.
The G5 Sahel is an institutional framework for coordination of regional cooperation in development policies and security matters in central Africa. It was formed on 16 February 2014 in Nouakchott, Mauritania, at a summit of the five Sahel countries.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Dhaka : The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) shall hold the Tenth Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM), hosted by Bangladesh in Dhaka, under the theme of “Enhancing Regional Integration through Tourism.”
During this session which will kick off on Monday for three days, OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen will present his report to the ministers of tourism of the OIC member states. The report includes the implementation of the OIC framework for development and cooperation in the field of Tourism regarding promoting Islamic tourism, celebratory activities of Islamic tourism capitals, promotional tourism activities, organizing tourist exhibitions, establishing tourism portal, tourism capacity building programs, tourism publications, and tourism statistics and studies.
The ICTM will also discuss the development of Islamic culture and heritage tourism, the strategic roadmap for the development and promotion of Islamic tourism, and a study on branding Muslim-friendly tourism in the global market. The participants will also review the progress in tourism infrastructure projects, such as the Regional Project for Sustainable Tourism Development in a Network of Cross-Border Parks and Protected Areas in West Africa.
The coming ICTM is also expected to address the challenges faced by the OIC on the successful organization of various tourism fairs and the development of a joint strategy for the successful organization of Islamic tourism exhibitions.
The Session will also select the two Islamic tourism capitals of 2019 and 2020 in line with the mechanism and the selection criteria adopted and review the annual celebration of the capital of Islamic tourism and programs to facilitate the mass and diverse celebration of this yearlong event.
—SM/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Cairo : Activities of Al-Azhar International Conference in Support of Jerusalem will kick off in Cairo on Wednesday with a high-level Arab, Islamic and international participation and attendance of representatives from 86 countries, under the patronage of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The opening session of the two-day conference includes speeches by Al-Azhar’s Grand Imam Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen; Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit; Speaker of the Kuwaiti National Assembly Marzouq Al-Ghanim; Saudi Minister of Islamic Affairs Sheikh Saleh bin Abdulaziz Al Alsheikh; Secretary General of the Muslim World League (MWL) Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa; Arab Parliament Speaker Dr. Meshaal bin Fahm Al-Salami; Pope Tawadros II, Coptic Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark; and Secretary General of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit.
The second session of the conference, to be chaired by former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, entitled “The Arab identity of Jerusalem and its mission”, deals with the following four themes: “Universal religious status of Jerusalem”, “Jerusalem and its civilization – history and present”, “The impact of identity change in spreading hatred”, and “Refuting Zionist claims about Jerusalem and Palestine.” The conference will come to a close with adoption of the final declaration.
—Ayman Mohammed/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Muslim World, Social Round-up
Jeddah : The Embassy of Azerbaijan to Saudi Arabia and the Cabinet of the First Vice President of Azerbaijan jointly organized a presentation ceremony about Azerbaijan’s nomination to host the World EXPO 2025 in its capital Baku to the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the headquarters of the OIC in Jeddah on Thursday.
The event was attended by heads and representatives of the diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia and high ranking officials of the OIC general secretariat.
Assistant to the First Vice President of Azerbaijan and head of the Baku Expo 2025 Task Force Ambassador Elchin Amirbayov, gave an informative briefing of Azerbaijan’s bid with the visual presentation of the diversity, development, and potential of Azerbaijan under the theme of ‘Developing human capital, building a better future.’
“We are here to seek your support for an important international project we signed in,” said Ambassador Amirbayov to the representatives of the OIC member states. The capital city of Baku is one of the candidates for hosting in 2025 a World Expo usually held every five years under the aegis of the the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE, International Bureau of Exhibitions).
“Our desire to host the World Expo in 2025, fits very well into Azerbaijan’s long-term vision and national development strategy. Hosting a World EXPO would create an unprecedented opportunity for Azerbaijan to realize some of its long-term strategic goals including the development of the regions, diversification of economy, development of human capital through investments in education, health and job sectors and building a greater Baku which will serve the well-being of its population, said the ambassador.
It is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan is the only member state of the OIC to submit its bid for EXPO-2025.
—SM/OIC-UNA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Halal Food, Halal Industries, Halal Medicine, Muslim World
Istanbul : The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stated that the size of the global halal products market has grown exponentially in the last decade, from $3.7 trillion in 2012 and expected to reach $6.4 trillion by 2019.
This was contained in the statement of OIC Secretary General Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen at the opening ceremony of the 5th edition of the OIC Halal Expo and the World Halal Summit held in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 23-25.
OIC Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs Ambassador Hameed Opeloyeru, who read out the statement of the secretary general, explained that organizing the annual halal expo is one of the main planks for advancing trade in the OIC. The event affords actors — traders, investors, exporters, the industry guilds and the general public — the opportunity to know the latest halal products in the member states, with a view to promoting halal products and increasing communication between the investors and industry leaders.
He stressed that there was a need for active bodies in the food, halal services, production and marketing sector in the OIC member states to follow a common course to ensure that all specialized bodies unify their standards and issue accreditation certificates for a suitable regulatory environment for these procedures.
Istanbul is hosting the Halal Expo in cooperation with the OIC-affiliated Islamic Centre for the Development of Trade (ICDT), Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC).
—IINA/SM/OIC-UNA
