In the Economic and Social Field The Conference emphasized the need to make optimal use of the human, natural and economic resources of the Muslim world in order to promote this cooperation, consider the possibility of establishing a Free Trade Area among the Member States, and accede and implement the agreements and resolutions concluded, and support the activities of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). The Conference stressed the need to achieve a considerable increase in intra-OIC trade, and welcomed the establishment of the Islamic Corporation for Trade Finance in response to the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques launched at the Tenth Islamic Summit Conference, calling for this institution to expeditious start its work. The Conference also called for increase in the capital of the Islamic Development Bank in order to enable it to meet the needs of Member States, and reaffirmed the vital role played by the private sector in development. The Conference underlined the importance of cooperation in the fields of poverty alleviation, capacity building, elimination of illiteracy, and eradication of diseases and epidemics such as AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and the need to mobilize the necessary resources to this end by establishing a special fund within the IDB. The Conference mandated the IDB Board of Governors to implement this proposal. With reference to the call of the United Nations Secretary General to eradicate Polio, the Conference stressed the significance of international efforts exerted in this regard, especially that OIC Member States are the most affected by the disease. --More sss 1915 Local Time 1615 GMT
