While paying tribute to the activities of the OIC's various institutions, Secretary-General of the OIC Iyad Ameen Madani stressed that the OIC General Secretariat would continue to closely coordinate these activities and support their executive programmes. Madani made the comments during a speech at the Ministerial Opening Ceremony of the 31st Session of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) in Istanbul, Turkey on Wednesday 25 November 2015. Also in attendance at the event was President of Turkey and Chairman of the COMCEC Recep Tayyip Erdo?an. "Permit me to also commend the increasing collaborative sprit among the various OIC institutions, which has generated the required momentum for the realization of the OIC joint action," said Madani, while giving assurances that the OIC General Secretariat will continue to consolidate on these gains through closer coordination with its various institutions. "In the same vein, the General Secretariat shall work assiduously to implement the decisions and recommendations of COMCEC, in its capacity as the executive organ of COMCEC and in closer collaboration with His Excellency the Chairman of this all-important OIC Standing Committee," he added. The OIC Secretary General also said that the input of Member States and OIC institutions in the new OIC-2025 Program of Action would result in a robust and inclusive agenda for socio-economic cooperation among OIC member states. He added that intra-OIC trade has been increasing despite the OIC's multilateral trade instrument, which seeks to remove qualitative and quantitative trade barriers, is yet to come into effect. He further congratulated Turkey on the recent nation-wide elections and appreciated the measures undertaken by the country in convening the COMCEC General Assembly each year. He also touched on efforts to establish an OIC Free Trade Zone, and that Halal Food Standards, Accreditation and Certification is one recent strategy to enhance intra-OIC trade. A forum is to be held in December on this in Jeddah in coordination with the Islamic Fiqh Academy, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA).
