The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is promoting intra-OIC trade through stimulation of direct foreign investment and industrial growth as part of a policy to curb unemployment in its member countries. OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu unraveled this in his address at the forum “Saudi Arabia-Turkey: Trade and Investment Bridges” held at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday. The forum was attended by Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan; Sheikh Saleh Kamel, President of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Dr. Mustafa Gunay, Secretary General of Confederation of Business and Industries inTurkey. Ihsanoglu said increased intra-OIC trade and investment companies in OIC member states can contribute to its objective of increasing intra-trade to 20 percent in 2015. He highlighted the OIC member states' abundant opportunities and natural resources which he said can be utilized toward mutually-rewarding cooperation for economic growth and social development. The OIC secretary general emphasized the significance of the forum in bringing together Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two economic giants among the OIC member states, which will contribute toward boosting trade and industrial cooperation among the group's members. “The importance of these two countries is manifest in the fact that they both dispose of a combined GDP of $ 1.15 trillion that makes up 24 percent of the GDP of all OIC Member States put together,” Ihsanoglu said. “Turkey and Saudi Arabia are leading contributors to the volume of intra-OIC trade.” Citing recent available data, he said, that exports of Turkey and Saudi Arabia to OIC countries account for 13.77 percent and 13.32 percent of their overall exports, respectively. Their imports from OIC countries are steadily increasing, he added.
