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REPORT OF THE TISC CHAIRMAN

5th ANNUAL COORDINATION MEETING OF THE OIC INSTITUTIONS (ACMOI)

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 4 – 5 December 2019

TABLE OF CONTENTS

General Background

I/ STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TISC MEMBERS’

ACTIVITIES IN 2018-2019

A)IMPLEMENTED TISC INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES IN 2018 B) IMPLEMENTED TISC INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES IN 2019

II/ TISC MEMBERS’ PLANNED INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES IN 2020

III/ THE WAY FORWARD: ASSESSMENT AND MAJOR CHALLENGES

A)REVIEW OF THE GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION STATUS B) MAJOR CHALLENGES C) MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHAIR

IV/ANNEXES

A) TISC REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 2018-2019 B) PROGRESS REPORTS OF INSTITUTIONS 2019

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GENERAL BACKGROUND:

In compliance with the resolutions of the 42nd Council of the OIC Ministers of Foreign Affairs, held in Kuwait-City on 27-28 May 2015, which “emphasized the need for coordination among

the OIC institutions in order to enhance synergy, efficiency, shared responsibility and service delivery for the effective implementation of decisions and resolutions of the OIC Summit, Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) and other ministerial conferences”, the OIC General Secretariat held the inaugural Session s of the Annual Coordination Meeting of OIC Institutions (ACMOI) at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 7-8 December 2015.

The meeting, held with a view to explore ways and means to jointly implement OIC resolutions and decisions in political, economic, social, scientific and technological domains through agreed actions and activities, reviewed and adopted the General Mandate of ACMOI and

agreed to establish an Executive Committee and 5 Thematic Committees to work out the implementation details of ACMOI objectives. Each of the Thematic Committees mentioned above is chaired by the relevant Assistant OIC Secretary General.

The meeting decided also to establish two Sub-Committees under the Thematic Committee of the Economic Affairs: Sub-Committee on Trade and Investment (TISC) under the chairmanship of the Director

General of ICDT; Sub-committee on Finance, Development and Private Sector under the chairmanship of

the Director of Cooperation Department (IsDB).

These sub-committees should prepare comprehensive reports to be submitted from time to time to the various chairmen of subcommittees and to the CFM and to the ACMOI Meetings.

a) Mandate of the TISC:

The Establishment of the TISC is meant to provide a platform for Cooperation, Info sharing and support between the Institutions, Organs and Complexes dealing with trade and investment under the OIC Umbrella.

Accordingly, the mandate of the TISC would be extracted from the mandate of the ACMOI and reflects the following objectives:

TISC shall identify areas of joint intervention, adopt related programs and approve their implementation;

TISC shall ensure effective coordination and cooperation among concerned OIC Institutions during the implementation of the agreed Matrix of Actions;

Assess and report the implementation progress of the programs to the Thematic Committee Chairman.

b) TISC Members:

The Members of the Sub-Committee on Trade and Investment (TISC), in addition to the OIC General Secretariat, will be composed of the OIC Institutions and Specialized Organs operating in trade and Investment.

They are composed of: The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Department of

Economic Affairs);

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The COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO);

The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT); The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC); The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC);

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD); The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries

(SESRIC); The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA); The Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC); The Country-Strategy and Cooperation Department of IsDB(CSC); The Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF), Bayt Mal Al Qods Acharif Agency(observer).

Also, invitations to some TISC meetings might be extended to the Regional and International Trade and Investment Related Bodies on a case-by-case basis.

National TPOs in the MCs can also be invited to participate in the TISC meetings to provide

the national views and proposals on the proposed programs.

c) TISC Meetings Structure:

The TISC will annually hold the following meetings:

Annual meetings of the Head of Institutions during the first semester in Morocco; follow-up meetings at the operational/ technical level. These meetings to be organized in

Jeddah during the second semester; Meetings on the sidelines of the ACMOI meetings, to be organized by the OIC General

Secretariat in Jeddah;

The role of TISC Secretariat shall be assumed by ICDT under the supervision of the Chairman and in close cooperation with the CEO of ITFC. However, the Secretariat must be changed on the rotation basis to other members.

ICDT is the focal point for coordination on the above-mentioned matters with OIC Institutions and Subsidiary Organs, while ITFC is the focal point for IsDB Group Entities and Complexes for the same.

First draft of the meeting report will be prepared by the Secretariat and circulated to the other TISC Members within two weeks. Consequently, TISC Members will provide their feedbacks and comments to the Secretariat for finalization of the meeting report two weeks after receiving the report. Upon the finalization of the meeting report and appendix, The Secretariat will send it to the OIC General Secretariat for information and further follow up.

d) TISC Working Mechanism:

The working mechanism of the TISC Meetings is structured as follows:

The Secretariat will have a prior consultation with other TISC members to finalize organizational matters (the invitation, meeting program, agenda, report…)

ITFC is a responsible for ensuring internal communication with IsDBG concerned

complexes and Institutions;

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Upon the adoption of the Joint Programs’ list by the Heads of Institutions Meeting,

specific concept notes for each activity will be formulated by concerned theme leaders; Concept Notes should include roles (technical, financial, logistical), responsibilities of

each party, implementation action plan with timetable, third parties complementarity

roles, expected outputs, outcomes and KPIs; For each program, the leading implementing agency would have to submit a progress

report in consultation with the implementing partners;

Based on the progress and/or final report on the implementation of joint activities, the

Secretariat should: prepare Consolidated Report of TISC for its submission to ACMOI. The Secretariat will

prepare the draft outline of the consolidated report in consultation with members, which shall be finalized during first bi-annual meeting of TISC;

The Secretariat should request TISC Members to send their inputs six weeks before the coordination meetings of TISC to prepare the first draft of Consolidate Report of TISC. Every theme leader should provide a progress report to the Secretariat within two weeks

after receiving notification email/Secretariat letter on the subject. The Secretariat composes the information and sends the draft consolidated report within two weeks for Members’ final review and feedback.

e) Cooperation Framework:

The objective of TISC is to design and implement integrated projects that include specific activities and deliverables, for example, in the areas of strategic commodities, halal industry, trade facilitation, investment promotion, SMEs Development with a view of enhancing intra-

OIC Trade.

Integrated Projects are composed of following themes and leaders:

1. Halal Industry Development including Tourism: Leader: SMIIC, and Members: ICDT, IsDB, ITFC, ICIEC, ICD, SESRIC and COMCEC Coordination Office and BMAQ;

2. Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC: Leader: ICDT and Members: ITFC, ICIEC, IsDB, SESRIC and COMCEC Coordination Office;

3. Strategic Commodities Development: Leader: ITFC and Members: ICDT, ICD, SESRIC, ISDB and COMCEC Coordination Office;

4. Investment Promotion: Leader: ICIEC and Members: ICD, ICDT, IsDB, SESRIC and COMCEC Coordination Office;

5. Private sector and SMEs Development: Leader: ICD and Members: ICIEC, ITFC, ICDT,

IsDB, SESRIC, ICCIA, COMCEC Coordination Office and ICYF.

f) Cooperation Mechanism:

The integrated projects of the sub-committee on trade and investment could be implemented

from the conception to the final implementation under the following principles: Tailoring a concept paper; Defining the role of respective institutions (technically, financially, logistically);

Agree on a mid-term evaluation and a final impact assessment for each project.

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I/ STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TISC MEMBERS’ ACTIVITIES IN 2018-2019

A) IMPLEMENTED TISC INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES IN 2018:

During 2018, TISC institutions have collaborated in successfully organizing the following activities:

1) Intra-OIC Trade Promotion:

The State of Kuwait and ICDT in close cooperation with ITFC organized an exceptional edition of the Trade Fair of the OIC Member States, from 6 to 10 February 2018 in Kuwait-City. This Fair recorded the participation of 24 OIC Member States and 7 Countries from other Muslim communities. The Fair registered the participation of about 300 companies and 3,000 Businessmen from the OIC Member States seeking for business opportunities and partnership.

ICDT, ITFC and ATU have organized the Business Forum between Agadir Agreement Countries and West African Countries on 10-11 May 2018 in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco. On this occasion, B2B meetings were organized in specific sectors with high business potential, including agri-business, pharmaceuticals, cotton/textiles and

leather/skins. A Special Session was devoted to the development of trade and investment between the State of Palestine, Agadir Agreement Members and West African Countries. The Forum has focused on strengthening cooperation between the Member States of the Agadir Agreement and West African countries. Participants also are agreed to combine their efforts to boost trade and investment flows between these countries.

ICDT was appointed by the OIC General Secretary as OIC focal point in charge of coordinating the OIC participation in the EXPO 2020 scheduled to be held in Dubai from

20th October 2020 to 10th April 2021. In this regard, ICDT an Interactive workshop with Dubai Expo Bureau and an OIC coordination meeting on 15th - 17th October 2018 in Casablanca and a coordination meeting in Jeddah at the OIC General Headquarters on 14th

January 2019 and in Marrakesh on April 2nd, 2019 in order to examine the OIC participation

to EXPO 2020 and to organize many events for the benefit of OIC Institutions during the event period (Fairs, exhibitions, BoD, seminars, trainings).

Table 1: Joint Activities organized on Intra-OIC Trade Promotion in 2018

Integrated Program

Leading Institution

Partner Institutions

Activities

Intra-OIC Trade Promotion

ICDT

ITFC Exceptional OIC Trade Fair (Kuwait-City, 6-10 Feb 2018)

ITFC and ATU Business Forum Agadir Agreements Members and West Africa (Casablanca, 11-12 May 2018)

SESRIC, ICCIA, IsDBG. IRCICA,

ISESCO

Workshop for the preparation of the OIC participation to Dubai Expo 2020 (Casablanca, 15-17 Oct 2018).

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2) Halal Industry Development including Tourism:

In the Halal Sector, OIC Institutions organised the following activities: As a deliberation of the Third Meeting of Trade and Investment Sub Committee of ACMOI (TISC), held in Marrakesh

- Kingdom of MOROCCO on 8 March 2018, the Halal Industry Development including Tourism was formed as follows:

Leading institution: SMIIC

Members: ICDT, IsDB, ITFC, ICIEC, ICD, SESRIC and COMCEC Coordination Office.

The Task Force is responsible for developing and following – up the joint projects on Halal Industry including tourism.

A Draft Actionable Roadmap Halal Industry Development Including Tourism and members of the Task Force were invited to submit their comment/feedback and according to the feedbacks of the members, the Roadmap has been prepared.

COMCEC:

Under the COMCEC Project Funding, SMIIC’s project on “Harmonization of National Halal Standards with the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards” was implemented. The project’s main aim was to increase know-how and knowledge of the usage and implementation of the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards in 21 Member Countries.

Under the COMCEC Project Funding, SESRIC also implemented a project called “Improving Islamic Tourism Ecosystem in OIC Member Countries: Destination and Industry

Development” as a continuation of the previous COMCEC funded project on “the Training Program on the Development and Promotion of Muslim Friendly Tourism.” Within the context of the project, a training program and a study visit were organized.

SESRIC, COMCEC and ICDT organised a Training program on “Improving Islamic Tourism Ecosystem in OIC Member Countries: Destination & Industry Development” organised by SESRIC on 9-12 July 2018 in Malatya, Turkey.

"SMIIC Training Program 2018 “Harmonization of National Halal Standards with the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards” organised by SMIIC and COMCEC CCO on 16-20 July 2018 in İstanbul, Turkey. The training was attended by 20 delegates from 15 OIC Countries.

Capacity Development Project on "Improving Halal Tourism Ecosystem in Uzbekistan” was organised by SESRIC and SMIIC in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 13-15 November 2018. A diagnostic visit is planned to be organised in the first quarter of 2019 together with the

potential provider and partner institutions. The project was aimed at increasing the institutional capacity of the relevant authorities of Uzbekistan in the field of Halal tourism.

ICDT, SMIIC and ITFC organized the 6th OIC Halal Expo in Istanbul on 29 November – 02

December 2018 which is expected to gather more than 250 exhibitors with the leading profile

of Halal production and services in all fields such as food, finance, cosmetics, tourism,

chemicals, packaging, machinery, Islamic lifestyle and modest fashion, etc. The Expo aims

to gather companies and institutions operating in the field of halal industry and the actors

of the halal sector seeking business and partnership opportunities in the OIC Member States

and to provide them a platform to promote their products and services and to boost

investments in this sector.

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World Halal Summit 2018 is organised mainly by SMIIC under the theme of “Halal and

Healthy Life: Awareness and Sustainability” as an important side event, held simultaneously with the 6th OIC Halal Expo in which the conferences to be attended by prominent speakers in the sub-fields of halal industry.

The 3 days summit program topics are as follows: SESSION A: HALAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE CONFERENCE (Halal Quality Infrastructure (Standardization, Conformity Assessment, Metrology and Accreditation) SESSION B: SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE (Scientific, Experts Views, Innovation Solutions for

Halal Challenges) SESSION C: HALAL TOURISM SESSION D: THE IMPORTANCE OF HALAL FINANCE IN PRODUCTION AND INVESTMENT CONFERENCE.

Halal Standards Development (SMIIC, IIFA, and SESRIC): SMIIC Technical Committee

Weeks 4 and 5 have been organized in 2018. Total number of standard projects in process is

36. 24 out of 36 has been initiated in 2018. The activities of the technical committees (TCs)

regarding halal issues are given below.

TC 1 – Halal Food Issues

TC 2 – Halal Cosmetics

TC 3 – Service Site Issues

TC 5 – Tourism and Related Services

TC 8 – Leather and Tanning Material

TC 10 – Halal Supply Chain

TC 11 – Halal Management Systems

SMIIC Committee on Conformity Assessment (CCA)

Halal Accreditation (Multilateral recognition): SMIIC Accreditation Council held two

meetings in 2018 and studying on establishment of an accreditation system for the

multilateral recognition.

Table 2: Joint activities organised in Halal Industry Development including Tourism in 2018

Integrated Program Leading

Institution Partner

Institutions Activities

COMCEC/

SESRIC/ICDT

Working group on tourism: destination

development and institutionalisation strategies in

the OIC Member States (15 Feb 2018)

Halal Industry Developmentincluding Tourism

SMIIC

SESRIC, ICDT

Improving Islamic Tourism Ecosystem in OIC

Member Countries: Destination & Industry Development (Malatya, 9-12 July 2018)

SESRIC SMIIC Training Program, Istanbul 16-20 July 2018)

COMCEC/ SESRIC/ICDT

Working group on tourism: destination marketing strategies in OIC Member States (13 Sept 2018)

COMCEC Halal Standards Development 2018

SESRIC Capacity Development Project on improving Halal

Tourism Ecosystem in Uzbekistan (13-15 Nov 2018)

ICDT, ITFC,

SESRIC

6th OIC Halal Expo (Istanbul 29 Nov-2 Dec 2018 and

World Halal Summit 2018

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3) Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation including TPS/OIC:

Within the framework of the program of trade facilitation in the OIC Countries, some Institutions made efforts to streamline trade operations such as:

COMCEC:

The 11th Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on March 7-8, 2018 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Facilitating Trade: Improving Customs Risk Management

Systems in the OIC Member States.” The Working Group also served to the preparations for the Exchange of Views Session of the 34th COMCEC Ministerial Meeting to be held on November 28th, 2018 and has come up with a set of policy recommendations to be submitted to the said Session. A comprehensive research report on the theme of the meeting has been

prepared for enriching the discussions during the Meeting. Within the framework of this report, three field visits were conducted to Albania, Senegal and Turkey.

Furthermore, the 12th Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on November

6th, 2018 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Improving Authorized Economic Operators Programs in the OIC Member States.” The research report prepared on the subject of the Meeting was submitted to the Meeting for enriching the discussions. The report contains three field visit case studies, namely Jordan, Turkey and Uganda. Moreover, “COMCEC Trade Outlook 2018” has been prepared for exploring the global trends and current situation in trade area in the OIC Member Countries.

Under the COMCEC Project Funding, three important projects related to single window and trade facilitation were implemented by the Member Countries. The first project titled “the

Feasibility Study on the Interoperability of Selected Single Window Systems” in the OIC Member Countries was implemented by Morocco in partnership with Tunisia and Cameroon. The project aimed at facilitating interoperability among the single window systems of the above-mentioned countries. As the second project, Nigeria implemented the project titled

“Boosting Intra-OIC Trade through Improvement of Trade Facilitation Measures in the OIC Member Countries” with Morocco and Indonesia. The project aimed at developing specific, measurable, achievable, reliable and target-oriented plans as well as the strategies in the

identified thematic areas with a view to boosting Nigeria’s intra-OIC trade. Sudan also implemented the project on “Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Single Window Systems in the OIC Member States” with Jordan, Morocco, Turkey and Uganda with the aim of sharing experiences and best practices among the project stakeholders to promote the development and implementation of electronic single window systems in the OIC Member States.

ICDT /Morocco: Meeting of the 4th edition of the Annual Conference of the PortNet Single Window, Casablanca Morocco 12-13 November 2018:

The 4th edition of the Annual Conference of the PortNet Single Window was organized at the joint initiative of the National Ports Agency (ANP) and PORTNET SA, under the aegis of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport Logistics and Water and in partnership with the Electronic

Business Facilitation Center (CEFACT-UN), International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA) and the Islamic Center for Trade Development, as an institutional partner. It was held on November 12th and 13th, 2018 at the Grand Mogador City Center, Casablanca,

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under the theme: "The One Stop Shop: Public and Private Community Intelligence Serving

Your Integrated, Efficient and Innovative Supply Chain".

Since 2014, the annual conference of the Single Window PortNet, has become an annual rendezvous for national economic operators and international experts in the field. The 2018 edition, which was attended by more than one hundred participants from international organizations and the different regions of the Kingdom and the world, representatives of public and private organizations in addition to national and international experts, was particularly interested the role of one-stop shops in improving the efficiency of the supply chain, the

competitiveness of countries and their ability to innovate and take ownership of new technological trends, in particular by building on public community intelligence and private. Indeed, this exchange forum on global best practices aims to improve the business climate by simplifying, fluidifying and dematerialization of import and export procedures. All these

objectives are consistent and adhere perfectly to the High Orientations of His Majesty King Mohammed VI that God assists him, in his vision of putting the citizens and the economic operators in the center of the interest of the administrations and the public service and this

through the constant search for new innovative and bold solutions.

Thus, on the sidelines of this 4th edition of the PORTNET Single Window conference, three major events were on the menu, namely: • The 5th International Conference of the United Nations Facilitation Center for Trade

Procedures and Electronic Commerce (UN/CEFACT) on the Single Window Concept, which aims to encourage the development of the National Single Window as one of the most important technological solutions in a global mutual effort to stimulate international trade;

• The annual conference of the International Port Community Systems Association "IPCSA"

has become an unmissable event that addresses topical issues in trade simplification and its procedures and involving experienced and innovative international experts;

• The annual meeting of IPCSA members to be invited to the different African Single Window Operators and Port Community Systems;

This veritable crossroads of ideas and exchange of high-level experiences around the Single Window ecosystem, has been a privileged space for reflection with the contribution of renowned experts on the solutions in view for a One Stop Shop up to date with all the

requirements of an economy more and more at the mercy of the digital transformation and the dematerialization of import and export procedures.

- Regional Workshop on Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS – OIC) and the Multilateral Trading System, Khartoum - Republic of Sudan, 17-18 December 2018:

The Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT), The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (ICCIA) in collaboration with COMCEC and the Ministry of Trade of

Republic of Sudan have organized the “Regional Workshop on Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS/OIC) and the Multilateral Trading System” in Khartoum – Republic of Sudan, on 17-18 December 2018.

The objective of the Workshop was to raise awareness about the importance of Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS/OIC) and its protocols and the recent development of the Multilateral Trading System

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including Sudan’s accession to WTO. This Workshop was very beneficial as it explained the

Trade Preferential System for the Private Sector, which can be instrumental in expanding the trade relations between the Member Countries.

More than 60 Participants from Sudan Public and Private Sector, senior officials from several ministries attended this event and COMCEC Coordination Office, ICCIA and ICDT attended this workshop.

After the opening ceremony, Experts from ICDT, COMCEC, ICCIA and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Sudan made presentations on the following topics:

Presentation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action (2016-2025) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for enhancing intra-OIC trade;

Presentation on the Trade Cooperation and TPS-OIC in the COMCEC Strategy; Presentation on the Current Status of the TPS-OIC: Basic Features of the System and the

Way Forward; Presentation of the Framework Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among the

OIC Member States (TPS/OIC); Provisions of the TPS/OIC; Structures and the negotiations methods; Presentation of the outcomes of the First Round of Trade Negotiations; Presentation on the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme For TPS-OIC (PRETAS);

Presentation on the Protocol of the Rules of Origin of the TPS/OIC; Economic integration, Legal impact of the TPS the WTO provisions and RTAs /OIC; Impact of the TPS/OIC on Sudan Foreign Trade; Presentation of the procedures of the accession of Sudan to the TPS/OIC Agreement and

WTO; Membership procedures to TPS/OIC and technical instruments; Technical assistance of ICDT and IsDB in the operationalization of the TPS/OIC

Agreement and WTO Issues.

ICCIA made a presentation on the “Role of the Private Sector on the Operationalisation of the TPS/OIC” and highlighted its due role for increasing the level of Intra Islamic Trade as well as in creating awareness about the various OIC agreements for enhancing economic cooperation, particularly the Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS-OIC). All participants mentioned the importance of the workshop which allow them to understand TPS/OIC and its protocols and its role to enhancing intra-OIC Trade of Sudan.

The Workshop recommended to expedite the ratification formalities of TPS/OIC and call upon the concerned authority in the Ministry of Industry and Trade to urgently undertake the necessary steps to complete the needful for obtaining the consent of the Cabinet and the approval of the Parliament as soon a as possible.

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Table 3: Joint activities organised in the field of Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation including TPS/OIC in 2018


InstitutionPartner

InstitutionsActivities

Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC

ICDT

IsDB Study on the OIC Mechanism of Coordination on WTO issues 2018

COMCEC/SESRIC/

ITFC

Working group on trade: improving customs risks management systems in the OIC Member States (7-8 March 2018)

COMCEC/SESRIC/

ITFC

Working group on trade: improving authorised economic operators programs in the OIC Member States (6 Nov 2018)

IsDB Workshop on the validation of the Study on the OIC Mechanism of Coordination on WTO issues (Geneva, 19-20 Oct 2018)

IsDB Workshop on Post-WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the Arab and Asian Member States (Dubai 19-20 Nov 2018)

COMCEC, ICCIA

Regional Training Workshop on TPS/OIC and MTS (Khartoum, 17-18 December 2018)

4) Development of Strategic Commodities:

ITFC and SESRIC organized some events on strategic commodities such cotton and agribusiness products for benefit of OIC Member States.

In this regard, ITFC hold another B2B for Cotton export with Arab importers in 2018 and financed a pilot project consists of treating the groundnuts plantation from Aflatoxin disease that is affecting the production and commodity price and a first part of the training has been launched in September 2018 with 27 beneficiaries in coffee sector,

ITFC, in coordination with partners, will support the Government of Comoros in its efforts to center its export system on promotion and marketing, in order to address the absence of direct access to end markets for main export cash crops, especially the vanilla. The Program design was completed, and the implementation started in the first week of December 2018.

In the end of 2018, ITFC financed projects in Groundnuts, Groundnuts Oil and Groundnut Animal Feed (Cake) in Senegal, Crude Palm Oil and Coffee in Indonesia, Wheat and Sugar in Tajikistan, cotton in Burkina Faso, Seed Cotton, Soya Bean, Agriculture Inputs in Cameroon

and Groundnuts in the Gambia.

From its part, SESRIC organized also a 3-day training course on “Development of Sustainable Transgenic Technology, Commercialization and Post-release Monitoring” within the framework of the OIC Cotton Training Programme (OIC-CTP) in Ankara, Turkey, on 08-10

May 2018.

SESRIC organized a training course on “Genotyping by Sequencing Analysis” within the framework of OIC Cotton Training Programme (OIC-CTP) on 05-07 March 2018, in Bursa, Turkey.

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5) Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement:

Some workshop are organised by OIC Institutions on Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement in 2018 such as:

The OIC General secretariat set up in October 2018 a steering committee to follow up the

setting up of a mediation and arbitration Center for settlement of disputes arising from the

implementation of the OIC Treaty on investment protection and guarantee. The process of the

amendment of article 17 of the Treaty started in November; in this vein a draft resolution will

be adopted by the 46th CFM to be held in Abu Dhabi from 28th February till 3 March 2019. The

steering Committee is composed, inter alia, of the OIC General secretariat, IsDB Group and

ICDT.

Workshop on Introducing “Engage Platform” and “Transform Fund”: SESRIC and Islamic Development Bank Group Regional Hub in Turkey jointly organized a workshop to introduce the recently launched “Engage Platform” and “Transform Fund” on 13 February 2018 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. Engage” platform aims to connect innovations with market opportunities and funding. To support the functioning of this Platform, the IsDB has established a special fund called “Transform”, which provides seed money for innovators, start-ups and SMEs to develop their ideas and compose strong business proposals. ICDT organised in collaboration with UNCTAD, ICIEC and SESRIC a workshop on Obstacles

and Solutions to Investment in Africa in Geneva on 23rd October 2018 on the sidelines of the World Investment Forum 2018. ICIEC, ICDT and UNCTAD organised a workshop on International Investment Agreements

for the benefit of representatives of OIC IPAs in Casablanca on 18-20 December 2018.

Table 4: Joint Activities organized in Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement in 2018


InstitutionPartner

InstitutionsActivity

Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement

ICIEC

ICDT, SESRIC

Regional Workshop on obstacles to Investments in Africa Casablanca, 24-25 Jan 2018

SESRIC, IsDBWorkshop to introduce the recently launched “Engage Platform” and “Transform Fund” (Ankara, 13 Feb 2018)

ICDT, SESRIC

Workshop on obstacles and Solutions to investments in Africa (Geneva, 23 Oct 2018)

ICDT Regional Workshop on International Investment Agreements, Casablanca, 18-20 Dec 2018

5) Private sector and SME Development:

ICD Activities:

In 2017, the line of Finance’s contribution stood at 63% of total ICD approvals and 30% of total ICD disbursements. ICD continued to increase its LOF commitments by approving 18 projects

with a gross value of over US$583.3 million. The approvals included one regional project for Africa and 17 country-level facilities, including for Bangladesh, The Gambia, Kazakhstan,

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Kyrgyzstan, Mali, Niger, Palestine, Suriname, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkey, Suriname, and

Uzbekistan.

ICD also recently started to monitor and evaluate the outcomes of its interventions for SME development and based on the last client survey results the Corporation managed to reach and provide access to finance over 4,000 SMEs and supported more than 70,000 jobs in the last two years through financial intermediaries/channels.

ICD has also been actively involved in improving the enabling environment for SMEs in close partnership with ISDB and other group entities mainly through providing advisory services in

four thematic areas: 1) Special Economic Zones, 2) Business Environment, 3) Value Chains, 4) Firm Productivity and Innovation.

ICD set up funds to mobilize resource, and to go beyond its own capital for promoting the SMEs sector in its member countries. The Corporation currently has two set of investment fund

platforms: 1) Income & Capital Markets Funds, 2) Alternative Investments Funds.

B) IMPLEMENTED TISC INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES IN 2019:

Some OIC Institutions made activities by collaborating each other successfully in organizing the following themes:


In 2019, ICDT, in collaboration with ITFC organised the 16th Edition of the OIC Trade Fair in Baghdad from 7 to 13 April 2019. The Fair lasted 7 days and held over an area of 7000 square meters composed of three Halls and registered the participation of about 60 companies, institutions and business people from the OIC Member States, looking for business and partnership opportunities. The fair witnessed the participation of exhibitors from the following countries: Kingdom of Bahrain, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Senegal, Republic of Iraq, Sultanate of Oman, Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of Lebanon, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Arab Republic of Egypt.

The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade ‘Director General has been appointed by the OIC General Secretariat (Verbal note n° OIC /ECO-04/B-03/003446 dated on 18 July 2018) as OIC focal point in charge of co-ordinating the OIC participation in the EXPO 2020 scheduled to be

held in Dubai from 20th October 2020 to 10th April 2021.

In this regard, ICDT organised the following events: - 2nd Coordination Meeting of OIC Institutions organised in Jeddah at the Headquarters in

collaboration with Expo Dubai 2020 Team on 14th January 2019. The objective of this

Meeting is to exchange views on all aspects of the OIC participation in the Expo Dubai 2020 including logistics, presentation of the OIC Pavilion, contribution of each OIC Institution and the potential collaboration between Dubai Islamic Economy Development Center and OIC Institutions.

- 3rd Coordination Meeting of OIC Institutions organised in Marrakesh; Kingdom of Morocco in collaboration with Expo Dubai 2020 Bureau on 2nd April 2019. The objective of this Meeting was to exchange views on all aspects of the OIC participation in the Expo

Dubai 2020 including logistics, presentation of the OIC Pitch Pavilion and Pavilion design, the sidelines events to be organised on the margin of this Expo and items to be exhibited

13

by each OIC Institution and technical assistance to be provided by Expo Dubai 2020

Bureau. - ICDT and IRCICA organised the 4th Coordination Meeting of the OIC participation in

EXPO 2020 Dubai in Istanbul; Republic of Turkey at the IRCICA Headquarters on 9-10

September 2019. The objective of this Meeting was to take stock of the progress of the OIC participation in different fields such as the Design, Content and Curation Document of the OIC Pavilion, the activities planned by the OIC Institutions on the Side-lines as well as the logistical aspects.

- The OIC delegation chaired by Dr. EL Hassane HZAINE, attended the 5th Coordination Meeting of the OIC participation hosted by Expo 2020 Dubai to provide critical updates on the 4th OIC Coordination meeting and to initiate discussions on various key operational, exhibition and programming aspects of the exhibition, in Dubai, UAE on 11

September 2019. The follow-up Meeting is dedicated to the participation of the OIC Institutions in Expo 2020 Dubai through the pavilion and the side-lines events, followed by series of operational level presentations performed by high level officers on topics such as Dubai Exhibition Centre offers, Event booking system, Media operations & communication, OIC Curation Document, accommodation and logistics issues etc.

- On the sidelines of the Exhibition and Forum on Transport and Logistics in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Member States, held from 9 to 11 April 2019 in

Casablanca, ICDT, COMCEC and other international organisations organised a forum on Transport and Logistics in OIC Member States under the theme: impact of Artificial Intelligence on logistics and international trade on 10 April 2019.

ITFC organised the following events in 2019: - 2nd Edition of Sectoral B2B Meeting for Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment (Cairo,

Dec 2018) - Second edition of the B2B on Agri-food products that was held in Dubai, UAE, (30 Apr –

1st May 2019).

- B2B meetings for Pharmaceutical Sector under the umbrella of AATB (7-8 November2019); - Launch of the OCP School Lab Senegal Program under the umbrella of AATB (6

November2019); Besides, ICCIA organized a Seminar on ‘Quality Control Assurance in the perspective of Trade’; 31st October 2019, Karachi, Pakistan.

One of the important part of the value chain in trade facilitation is Quality Control Assurance. This pro-active quality, which helps to identify and correct any flaws in the finished products,

also enables to build the trust between the importer and exporter. Keeping this in mind, the ICCIA organized a Seminar on ‘Quality Control Assurance in the perspective of Trade’ on 31st

October 2019, in Shaikh Ismail Ali Abu Dawood Hall, at the ICCIA Headquarters, Karachi, Pakistan. It was organized in collaboration with SGS (Standard Global Services) Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd, a leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company of the world.

The main objective of the Session was to acquaint the business community engaged in the export of various products to overseas market, with the knowledge of quality control at all stages of value chain. The Session also highlighted the significance e of certification for

exporters…and how to build the trust amongst the trade partners as well as creating a positive image of their respective countries.

14

The Seminar was attended by several heads of the Diplomatic Missions, Commercial Attaché

of various OIC and Non-OIC Countries, accredited in Karachi, Pakistan, representatives of Public and Private Sector as well as importers, exporters and leaders of business community.

Table 5: Joint activity organized in trade promotion in 2019


Institution Partner

Institutions Activity

Intra-OIC Trade

Promotion

ICDT

ITFC 16th edition of the Trade Fair of the OIC Member States, from 7 to 13 April 2019 at the International Exhibition

Center of Baghdad - Republic of Iraq.

COMCEC

Forum on Transport and Logistics in OIC Member

States under the theme: impact of Artificial Intelligence

on logistics and international trade on 10 April 2019.

ITFC

2nd Edition of Sectoral B2B Meeting for

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Equipment (Cairo, Dec 2018)

Second edition of the B2B on Agri-food products that was held in Dubai, UAE, (30 Apr – 1st May 2019).

Launch of the OCP School Lab Program under the

umbrella of AATB (Dakar, Senegal, 6 November2019);B2B meetings for Pharmaceutical Sector under the umbrella of AATB (Dakar, Senegal, 7-8 November

2019);

ICCIA Seminar on ‘Quality Control Assurance in the perspective of Trade’, 31st October 2019, Karachi, Pakistan


OIC Institutions working in the field of Halal Industry Development including Tourism organised the following activities: SMIIC and ICDT participated in the 5th Edition of FOHAM organized by IMANOR on 14

March 2019 in Casablanca, Morocco SMIIC participated in the Panel Session on Prospects and Challenges in Halal Tourism in

the Islamic World, during the Second International Halal Congress organized by SESRIC on 4 April 2019, Antalya, Turkey.

Within the framework of COMCEC Funding project and Investment and Development of Turkey, ICDT in collaboration with SESRIC and SMIIC organised a workshop on Developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism in Suriname and Guyana on 15-17 July 2019 in

Paramaribo-Suriname. ICDT organised in collaboration with SMIIC and OIC BIZ Malaysia a workshop Halal

Tourism on the sidelines of the 9th Muslim World BIZ in Kuala Lumpur in September 2019 ICDT has collaborated with SMIIC and the Republic of Turkey in organising the “7th OIC

Halal Expo” and “World Halal Summit 2019” in Istanbul on 28November-1st December 2019. This Exhibition gathered the players of the Halal industry, this event recorded the participation of 35 OIC Member States as well as other non-OIC Member Countries. Institutions operating in the field of Halal product standards also took part in this Exhibition. 7th OIC Halal Expo offered a unique opportunity to showcase the products and services of companies and maximize their export profits in response to the demands of new developing Halal markets. Meanwhile, the 5th World Halal Summit 2019 under the theme of “Halal for

15

All Generations: Importance of Family and Youth” as an important gathering, was also held

simultaneously with the 7th OIC Halal Expo in which the conferences were attended by prominent speakers in the sub-fields of halal industry such as food, cosmetics, tourism, Islamic finance, textile and modest fashion…etc.

The sessions of the program were as follows: SESSION 1: STANDARDISATION AND RELATED ISSUES FOR HALAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE SESSION 2: CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION IN HALAL INDUSTRY SESSION 3: ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE CONFERENCE SESSION 4: HALAL TOURISM AND HALAL LIFESTYLE SESSION 5: HALAL LIFESTYLE: HALAL FOR ALL GENERATIONS SESSION 6: HALAL LIFESTYLE: HALAL IN DAILY LIFE

SESSION 7: HALAL FOOD AND RELATED NEW CHALLENGES SESSION 8: HALAL AND HEALTH: HALAL PHARMACY, COSMETICS AND TESTING

ICDT and SESRIC organized a Workshop for the benefit of the Managers of West African Cross-border Parks and Protected Areas in Ankara (Turkey) from 5th to 7th November 2019within the framework of the “Regional Project on Sustainable Tourism Development in a Network of cross-border Parks and protected Areas in West Africa”, initiated by 10 West African member countries and followed by ICDT and SESRIC on behalf of the OIC. On this occasion, participants from Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau were familiarized with different management tools and were requested to present case studies that reflect the current management status of West African Parks and Protected Areas. The

Republic of Guinea as the Regional Coordinator of the Project chaired the different sessions of the Workshop along with ICDT and SESRIC and was represented by their Excellencies Mr. Daouda BANGOURA, Ambassador of Guinea in Turkey and El Hajd Mohamed Sanoussy CISSE, National Director of Tourism in Guinea. On the 3rd day, participants had the

opportunity to visit the Soğuksu National Park located in Kızılcahamam. The Project on “Increasing Public Halal Awareness in OIC Countries” - 2019 (SMIIC,

COMCEC CCO): The project that aims to increase Halal awareness and knowledge among public and specialists by producing high quality, interesting and knowledgeable short films and books has been realized.

OIC/SMIIC 1 - Foundation Training was organized by SMIIC in collaboration with ITFCduring the 28 September – 01 October 2019 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey with the participation of 28 delegates from Afghanistan, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey, and Uzbekistan. The Training program aimed to give the necessary foundation knowledge of the OIC/SMIIC 1 and encourage the harmonization of Halal Standards used in the OIC and internationally by aiding in the adoption and use of the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards. Representatives from SMIIC Member States were trained in: a) The adoption, implementation and use of the series of 3 OIC/SMIIC: 2019 Halal Food

Standards, b) Use SMIIC Information System (IS) and Technical Committee (TC) work and preparation of Standards,

c) Certifying/inspecting body requirements and OIC/SMIIC 2:2019 Requirements for Bodies providing Halal Certification

d) Halal and use, implementation of series 3 OIC/SMIIC guidelines

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e) Use of OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 General Requirements for Halal Food

The program consisted of 4 days training completed with a test. Part 1. Implementation and use of the series of 3 OIC/SMIIC: 2019 Halal Food Standards Part 2. OIC/SMIIC 1: 2019 General Requirements on Halal Food Training

- The Technical Committees and SMIIC/CCA are continuing to work on 54 (fifty-four) ongoing projects, in which 14 (fourteen) of them are in Draft Standard (DS) stage, 14 (fourteen) projects are in Final Draft Standard (FDS) stage and 10 (ten) standards have been published.

- The 6th Technical Committees (TCs) Week Meetings were held during the 15-21 April 2019 in İstanbul, Turkey. The delegation from the following SMIIC Member, Observer States and liaison organizations participated in the meetings: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco,

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and International Islamic Fiqh Academy. The committees studied on the more than 37 projects like Halal Food Additives, Halal Edible Gelatine, Halal Tourism – General Guidelines, Date, Halal Supply Chain,

Halal Management Systems, …etc. were studied by the committees. - The 7th Technical Committees (TCs) Week Meetings were held on the 23-28 September

2019 in İstanbul, Turkey with the participation of 97 delegates from Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia,

Senegal, Sudan, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Thailand, GCC Countries Standardization Organization (GSO) and the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA).

- OIC/SMIIC 1 Foundation Training Program 2019 - Kyrgyz Republic was held in Bishkek on the 29-30 April 2019 and 02-03 May 2019 Osh, Kyrgyz Republic. The two (2) trainings were attended by 63 participants from private and public sector from Kyrgyz Republic. The training was given in English and Russian. The program was co-organized by SMIIC, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and The Ministry of Economy of

the Kyrgyz Republic. - The MRC FI Halal Food Training on the Detection of Porcine DNA From Processes

Foods and Food Additives was held on 21-25 October 2019 in Gebze-Kocaeli, Republic of Turkey in coordination with TUBITAK Marmara Research Center (TUBITAK MAM). The objective of this training program is to give the necessary laboratory training in the method for Detection of Porcine DNA From Processes Foods and Food Additives.

COMCEC Activities:

Under the COMCEC Project Funding (CPF), the project titled ‘Empowering Halal Industry to Boost Intra-OIC Trade’ was implemented by Indonesia. This project aims to increase the

awareness and compliance of industry to Halal concept, essential rules, and regulations applied by the OIC Member Countries. The project activities consisted of a training, workshop and study visit to Turkey. While the study visit was about learning the Turkey’s experience in this

field, the workshop and training focused on understanding Halal Product Concept and essential rules and regulations applied by the OIC Member Countries.

SMIIC also implemented a project is titled ‘Increasing Public Halal Awareness in OIC countries’ under the CPF. The purpose of the project was to increase Halal awareness and

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knowledge among public and private sector specialists by producing high quality, and

knowledgeable multimedia materials. The project included production of short films, one illustrated halal training manual and one comics and coloring book to that end.

The Project titled “Training of Accommodation Providers in the OIC Member Countries on Muslim Friendly Tourism Standards and Quality Service Provision” was implemented by the Gambia. The purpose of this project was to familiarize the accommodation service providers in the Gambia and in other OIC Members with the Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT) and to make these countries capable of regulating their accommodation establishments in line with

MFT standards. The training program, which included inputs gathered through the study visit to Malaysia, was held in the province of Banjul. With a 5-day training program, 20 trainees from the Gambia, Nigeria, and Senegal were trained on MFT standards for hotels in terms of necessary customer services for Muslim customers.

The other project titled “Improving Human Capacity on Muslim Friendly Tourism for Regulating Accommodation Establishments in the OIC Member Countries” was implemented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Mozambique with the partnership of Malaysia,

Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. The aim of this project was to enable participants to regulate the accommodation establishments in the light of MFT Guidelines, to establish a national level harmonization platform for halal products and therefore increasing Member Countries' institutional capacities. In this context, a training program was organized for enhancing capacity of the participants from the public sector, tour operators, and travel agents on the Muslim Friendly Tourism.

ICDT implemented the project titled “Developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) in Guyana and Suriname” within the framework of COMCEC Project Funding. The purpose of this project

was to raise awareness of MFT in Guyana and Suriname with a view to enhance the MFT ecosystem in these two countries through a training program, which was organized to raise awareness about the standards and guidelines of MFT with the participation of 63 trainees from Guyana and Suriname.

13th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on February 13th, 2019, in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Sustainable Destination Management Strategies in the OIC Member Countries”. The research report prepared in this subject includes three field visits, namely Maldives, Oman and Uganda. The policy recommendations formulated by the Working Group will be submitted to the 35th COMCEC Ministerial Session to be held in November 2019.

14th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on October 31st, 2019 in

Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Developing Multi-Destination Tourism Corridors in the OIC Member Countries”. The research report prepared in this subject includes field visits, namely Silk Roads Tourism Corridors (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan) as the OIC Member Countries’ practices and Danube Tourism Corridors (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova) as non-OIC examples. The Policy Recommendations formulated by the technical experts will be submitted to the COMCEC Ministerial Session.

Regarding the COMCEC Funded Projects for the realization of the COMCEC Policy

Recommendations in tourism area, two projects (in addition to the MFT projects reflected in

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the Halal Industry Development section) were implemented within the context of the

COMCEC Project Funding in 2019.

The first project titled “Destination Management Organization: Conceptual Framework for Azerbaijan, Cameroon, and Iran” was implemented by Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency. The project aimed at developing a conceptual destination management organization framework for Azerbaijan, Cameroon and Iran. A research report was produced as the main output of the project and the findings of the field visits conducted within the project were reflected to the said report.

Lastly, the project titled “Capacity Building on Destination Management Organizations of OIC Member Countries” was implemented by Mali with the partnership of Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The project aimed at equipping the relevant actors in charge of the management and tourism promotion of eight West African countries with destination management skills by conducting a training program. The training program on destination management organizations was held in the province of Bamako with 22 participants from the beneficiary countries.

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Table 6: Joint activities organised in Halal Industry Development including Tourism in 2019

Integrated Program

Leading Institution


Results and Main Achievements

Halal Industry Development

including Tourism

SMIIC

ICDT 5th Edition of FOHAM organized by IMANOR on 14

March 2019 in Casablanca, Morocco

SESRIC

Panel Session on Prospects and Challenges in Halal

Tourism in the Islamic World, during the Second International Halal Congress, 4 April 2019, Antalya,

Turkey.

ICDT/COMCEC/

SESRIC

Workshop on developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism in

Suriname and Guyana, 15-17 July in Paramaribo-

Suriname

ICDT Workshop on Halal Tourism/9th Muslim World BIZ,

(Kuala Lumpur Sept 2019)

ICDT 7th OIC Halal Expo (Istanbul 28Nov-1 December 2019) and World Halal Summit 2019

ITFC OIC/SMIIC 1 - Foundation 28 September – 01 October 2019 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey

SESRIC/ICDT Workshop for Managers of Parks and Protected Areas in

West Africa in Ankara on 5-7 November 2019

IIFA SMIIC Technical Committee Technical Work

COMCEC

-The Project on “Increasing Public Halal Awareness in

OIC Countries” -13th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group

was held on February 13th, 2019, in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Sustainable Destination Management

Strategies in the OIC Member Countries”.

-14th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on October 31st, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the

theme of “Developing Multi-Destination Tourism Corridors in the OIC Member Countries”.

- The first project titled “Destination Management Organization: Conceptual Framework for Azerbaijan,

Cameroon, and Iran” was implemented by Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency.

- the project titled “Capacity Building on Destination

Management Organizations of OIC Member Countries” was implemented by Mali with the partnership of Burkina

Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo

ICCIA

Halal Company:ICCIA is working on establishment of an affiliated

international company in the field of developing Halal

with the participation of its Member Chambers

3) Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation including TPS/OIC:

In the field of Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation including TPS/OIC, OIC

Institutions organised the following activities in 2019:

- Within the framework of the implementation of the Resolution of Thirty-Third Session of the Standing Committee on Commercial and Economic Cooperation among OIC Countries (COMCEC), held during the period 20-23 November 2017 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey,

20

which has called upon the IsDB and ICDT to continue providing technical assistance to the OIC

Member States on WTO related issues and to enhance their efforts in sensitizing the Member States to the impact of WTO trade negotiations on their economies. In this regard, ICDT and IsDB Country Strategy and Cooperation organised in collaboration with the Secretary of State

in Charge of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco on Post-WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC African Member States in Casablanca on 26-27 June 2019. This Workshop is organised to discuss important topics including the state of play of WTO negotiations, the Ministerial Decisions by MC11, WTO reforms, the Status of OIC Member States’ accession to WTO and future OIC Coordination for WTO issues and to share views of the OIC Countries Representatives in the OIC priorities of negotiations within WTO and to tackle MC12 issues to be held in Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan on 8-11 June 2020.

- Within the framework of the implementation of the relevant recommendations of the

workshop on “OIC Member States Coordination vis-à-vis WTO Issues” held in Geneva on 19-20 October 2018 at OIC Office Geneva Headquarters, ICDT and the Country Strategy and Cooperation Department of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) organized a Workshop on

“Current WTO Negotiations for the OIC Member States Permanent Missions’ in Geneva”, Geneva, Switzerland, 14-15 November 2019.The workshop discussed important topics including Current negotiations and their impact on OIC Member Countries trade on some important issues such as Agriculture,-Fisheries subsidies, Electronic Commerce, Trade in

Services, Investment Facilitation for Development, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Trade & Women's Economic Empowerment, WTO Reform (Improving efficiency and effectiveness of the WTO's monitoring and deliberative functions, Safeguarding and Strengthening the dispute settlement system, Rulemaking and Negotiations and Developmental Perspectives) and Coordination for WTO Issue. 24 OIC Permanent Missions and 8 International organisations attended this workshop.

- COMCEC events:

The 13th Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on March 7, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Facilitating Trade: Enhancing Public Availability of Customs Information in the OIC Countries”. A comprehensive research report on the theme of the meeting has been prepared for enriching the discussions during the Meeting.

Within the framework of the report submitted to the meeting, field visits were conducted to three OIC member countries namely Bangladesh, Morocco and Senegal to get insights about the policy environment on the subject. As the outcome of the Meeting, the Trade Working Group has come up with some significant policy recommendations to be submitted to the 35th

COMCEC Ministerial Session.

Moreover, the 14th Meeting of the Trade Working Group was held on October 24th, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Improving Customs Transit Systems in the OIC Countries.” The research report prepared about the Meeting was submitted to the Meeting for enriching the discussions. The report contains two field visit case studies, namely Kyrgyz Republic and Senegal. In addition, “COMCEC Trade Outlook 2019” has been prepared for exploring the global trends and current situation in trade area in the OIC Member Countries. The Policy Recommendations formulated by the Working Group will be submitted to the 35th COMCEC

Ministerial Session.

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Table 7: Joint activities organised in the Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC in 2019

Integrated Program

Leading Institution


Activity

Single

Window Modality and

Trade Facilitation,

including TPS/OIC

ICDT

IsDB Workshop on Post-WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC African Member States in Casablanca on 26-27 June 2019

IsDB

Workshop on Current Negotiations of WTO for the benefit of

OIC Permanent Missions in Geneva, Geneva on 14-15 November 2019

COMCEC

-The 13th Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was

held on March 7, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Facilitating Trade: Enhancing Public Availability of Customs

Information in the OIC Countries.” - The 14th Meeting of the Trade Working Group was held on

October 24th, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of

“Improving Customs Transit Systems in the OIC Countries.”

4) Development of Strategic Commodities:

Strategic commodities are very important for OIC Member States development, some OIC Institutions have organized the following activities in 2019:

In this regard, ITFC organized the following events: Gambia Aflatoxin Technical Assistance Project: The AMP is divided into two identical

phases. The first pilot was effective on the 28th June 2018 and was completed by 31st March 2019. The second pilot implementation is currently ongoing.

For the season 2019, out of 5,300 hectares initially identified, the program will deal only 2,300 hectares, since the rain did not come on time and when it started raining, the country experienced long periods of dry weather. It is the reason why the program will use the equivalent of 23 tons of Aflasafe SN01 in 2019 instead of the 50 tons.

Indonesia Coffee Export Development Program: ITFC Implemented an ambitious training program for the coffee farmers, from September 2018 till July 2019.

ITFC is partnering with SCOPI, a Sustainable Coffee Platform in Indonesia, to develop a 3-year nation-wide program employing latest technologies to train and upgrade Master Trainers who would then impart their skills and knowledge to the 2.0 million coffee farmers in Indonesia. Trainings on organic farming and Good Agricultural Practices delivered to 349 coffee farmers in Dairi and Karo, North Sumatra

Comoros Trade integrated Solution: ITFC supported to build a vanilla collection center in partnership with the EIF and the Government of Comoros for a 44-member cooperative of producers. The center will help the farmers climb up the value chain to the next stage of value addition and gain 10 times more value in their product.

In September 2019, with the support of Uganda Export Promotion Board, a field visit to Uganda was held to develop a trade promotion strategy in favor of the cooperative of producers.

Guinea Reverse Linkage Project: Strengthen the technical and organizational capacities

of the institutions in charge of promoting exports of the mango and cashew; (ii) Establishment of the inter-profession for the two mango and cashew sectors and the strengthening of their capacity in the development of strategies and plans for the

development of market-oriented value chain;

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Program for the Development of Dates Sector in Medina Region: this technical assistance is to develop a brand identity for Medina dates to enhance its market competitiveness. It will therefore improve the living conditions of the dates farmers

through increased revenues, and create more job opportunities for the community by: (i) development of a center to support the value addition and commercialization of date crops, and (ii) quality assurance improvement for dates produced based on accredited international market standards and requirements

ICDT organized B2B meeting on Malaysian Palm Oil and rubber, Casablanca (22 January 2019).

ICCIA organized a Workshop on Strategic Commodities (Tomatoes and Hazelnuts), Baku, Azerbaijan, 3-4 October 2019:

In line with the OIC Programmes of Action for Development of Strategic Agricultural Commodities, the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) organized a Workshop on Strategic Commodities (Tomatoes and Hazelnuts) on 3-4 October 2019, in Baku,

Republic of Azerbaijan. The Workshop was organized in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan (ASK). The workshop addressed, numerous issues and some of the critical areas as well, particularly, related to harvesting and post-harvesting. The participants called upon their Governments to make policies, which could be more conducive to the farmers, so as to avoid post-harvest losses and methodologies for processing, storage and transportation should be strengthened. The Workshop aimed towards regional and global integration of trade.

The overall recommendations focused on the policy makers to facilitate the farmers in the various stages to make their production cost effective and with value addition. The participants welcomed the establishment of the Islamic Food Security Organization (IOFS), under the umbrella of the OIC and call upon it, to involve the private sector through the ICCIA to devise

strategies addressing the challenges and to adopt sustainable agricultural practices.

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Table 8: Joint Activity organized in Strategic Commodities Development in 2019 Integrated Program

Leading Institution

Partner Institutions Activity

Strategic Commodities Development

ITFC

National Food Security Processing & Marketing Corporation (NFSC)

Gambia Aflatoxin Technical Assistance Project

Sustainable Coffee Platform of

Indonesia (SCOPI)

Indonesia Coffee Export Development

Program

Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) and the government of

Comoros

Comoros Trade integrated Solution

Tunisia Guinea Reverse Linkage Project

Medina Chamber of Commerce

and Industry

Program for the Development of Dates Sector

in Medina Region

AATB Progam/BADEA 2nd B2B on the Agrifood products and related industries, Dubai, 30 April-1 May 2019

AATB Program/BADEA

Buyers-Sellers Meeting on Pharmaceuticals

and related industries, Dakar, 7-8 November 2019

SESRIC

Study Visit and the Start-up Meeting of the Reverse Linkage project between Bangladesh

and Turkey on “Enhancing Capacity in

Cotton Varieties Development" on 04-08 November 2019 at Nazilli Cotton Research

Institute of Turkey in Aydın, Turkey.

ICCIA

Workshop on Strategic Commodities

(Tomatoes and Hazelnuts) on 3-4 October

2019, in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan

5) Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement:

Activities organised by OIC Institutions on Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute

Settlement in 2019 are the following:

ICIEC and ICDT organised a workshop for ECAs on trade and Insurances in Muscat Oman

on 1st October 2019.

ICIEC in partnership with ICDT have agreed to postpone the Business Forum between Azerbaijan, Arab and ECO Countries, Baku, initially scheduled in November 2019 to 2020

ICIEC in partnership with ICDT have participated to the 9th Muslim World BIZ- “Business

and Investment Zone” at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KILCC), Malaysia, 04th to 06

September 2019

ICIEC in partnership with ICDT (Focal point from the OIC) has attended several OIC

Coordination Meetings on Expo Dubai 2020 (Jeddah, Istanbul and Dubai).

ICIEC in partnership with ICDT have agreed to postpone the “Workshop on “Investment Promotion Techniques”, initially scheduled in Nov. 2019 (Beirut, Lebanon) to second quarter 2020.

ICIEC in partnership with OIC, the Investment Office of the Presidency of The Republic of turkey, and IsDB Group will co-organize two dedicated session during the forthcoming OIC High Level Public Private Investment Conference (08-09 Dec. 2019, Istanbul, Turkey)

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ICIEC with ITAP (IsDB) and BADEA have agreed to postpone the Sierra Leone Business Forum as well to review the IsDB Technical Assistance in Sierra Leone, initially scheduled in last quarter 2019 to the second quarter 2020.

ICCIA Formation of OIC Arbitration Centre:

The COMCEC mandated the ICCIA to set-up OIC Arbitration Centre, affiliated to the Islamic

Chamber in collaboration with TOBB in Istanbul, which would serve the business community of the OIC Countries. ICCIA would to emphasize its great gratitude for the role undertaken by the Union of Turkish Chambers (TOBB) towards this end.

The phase of technical discussion with the experts of Turkish Government has been completed and the following was agreed upon: (1) Statute of the Centre (2) The Agreement of the hosting of Centre The agreement will be signed in the forthcoming weeks.

Table 9: Joint Activities organized in Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement in 2019


Institution Partner

Institutions Activity


ICIEC

ICDT

Workshop on Trade and Insurances for

OIC ECAs in Muscat Oman on 1st

October 2019

ICCIA

Ongoing set-up of the OIC Arbitration Centre, affiliated to the Islamic

Chamber in collaboration with TOBB in Istanbul

6) Private Sector and SMEs Development:

ICCIA: On the lines of the Private Sector Meetings, the ICCIA is utilizing the platform of Statutory Meetings to also provide an opportunity to the participants to explore new opportunities for trade and investment. In this context, the 27th Board Meeting of the Islamic

Chamber held last year in Jakarta, Indonesia on 22nd – 23rd October 2018, also organized Meetings for the Private Sector on the theme of “Inclusion in Sharia Economy: A New Paradigm”.

In addition, the same was replicated by co-organizing the Egypt Investment Forum

concurrently with its 28th Board of Directors and 35th General Assembly from 2-4 March 2019 in Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt under the kind patronage of H.E the Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt and in collaboration with the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce. This Forum was held concurrently with Egypt assuming the Chairmanship of the

African Union.

The Forum was held under the theme of "Towards Africa”. Its aim was to promote trilateral cooperation in trade and investment through linking technology providers, with Arab

investors and development banks and funds to implement selected projects in manufacturing, agriculture, energy, ICT, transport and value-added trade and logistics. The event brought together business leaders from Arab, Asia and Africa regions.

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In the similar manner, under the auspices of the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,

and in collaboration with the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI), the Islamic Chamber held a Conference on “Investment Bridge” under the theme of “Exploring Business Opportunities and Integrating Businesses” along with the Exhibition of

Islamic Art, Culture and Products on the sideline of the ICCIA’s Board of Director Meeting on 15-16 November 2019 in Karachi, Pakistan.

These events provided an opportunity to shed light on the investment opportunities available in the host country as well as in the various OIC countries. They contributed to the

intensification of the presence of the Muslim business community in one platform to enhance multilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation among these countries. Further, it added new quality by providing an avenue for showcasing example of Islamic art, culture and product.

-ICD: Throughout 2018, ICD’s Islamic Finance Institutions (IFIs) Program established mandates designed to pave

the way to strengthen future partnerships, and to add depth to the Islamic finance industry in tough markets

and circumstances. Since its beginnings in 2012, the program has been instrumental in implementing mandates for over 40 financial institutions across 26 Member Countries in diverse regions and in hard-to-reach locations. Momentum continued in 2018, with the signing

of four new mandates.

ICD will also continue to tailor its Industry and Business Environment Support Program (IBES) to a wider

segment of potential beneficiaries. Refining the programs in this way enabled ICD to play an

instrumental role in helping many of the most challenging regions, as evidenced by its expending reach into fragile and conflict -affected areas of Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2018, ICD initiated two new mandates within the framework of IBES program.

ITFC launched in Dakar on November 7th, 2019 the SME Development Program to support

West African SMEs to them to more export in the OIC Member Countries.

26

Table 10: Consolidated Draft Action Matrix of TISC SME (2017-2019)# Activities Progress

Financial engagement

1

Potential collaboration opportunity of adding ICIEC insurance coverage with

ITFC/ICD Facilities

As a part of Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) to ICIEC is closely coordinating and consulting on the collaboration opportunities in terms of adding its insurance coverage and other

de-risking instruments with ITFC and ICD investment offerings.

2

Potential contribution of ITFC/ISDB for

the LOF Facilities developed by ICD

ICD, ITFC and ICIEC established Line of Finance team under the

Technical Cooperation Committee (TCC) to offer the following:

cross-selling, co-financing, flagship programs, resource mobilization, products development, joint events and

communication, other joint offerings to SMEs and Private Sector

Development of OIC Member Countries. Some pilot countries and geographies have been selected to start with (i.e., Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh, Sub-Saharan Africa)

3

Organizing Private Sector Events and

Investment Forums to Bring Together SMEs for Collaboration

IsDB Group Private Sector Forum (April, Morocco)

Sarajevo Business Forum (April, Bosnia & Herzegovina) Astana Financing Days (July, Kazakhstan)

Arab Investors Forum (September, France) Sarajevo Halal Fair (September, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

IsDB Group Reception in honor of the IsDB Governors during the 2019 Annual Meetings of the World Bank/IMF (October, USA)

4

Potential contribution of ITFC and other Group entities for ICD SME Funds/

Fund investee companies (including advisory solutions as well)

Due to the financial stability matters, the Board of Directors (BoD)

of ICD has put on hold all new equity/fund investment. Nevertheless, the TCC has been established to explore and

coordinate ways and means of joint project execution in member countries with regard to the SMEs development and capacity

building via advisory/TA mandates.

5

The joint collaboration in assessing the development impact of the SME sector

through participation in the development impact assessment survey

of ICD

As a part of the new agreement (administrative decision) among the

ICD, ITFC and ICIEC, it has been put on the pipeline to be conducted in near future

Training/Capacity building

6

Joint collaboration by providing training

to enhance skills and knowledge needed for financial management of SMEs

Planned to be conducted as a part of the new agreement (administrative decision) among the ICD, ITFC and ICIEC

SESRIC, the Islamic Chamber Research and Information Center (ICRIC) and the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF) jointly organized a two-day workshop on “Effect of Entrepreneurship Strategies on SMEs Development” on 30 April - 01 May 2019 in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.

27

Table 11: Joint Activities organized in Private Sector and SMEs Development in 2019 Integrated Program Leading Institution Partner Institutions Activity

Private Sector and

SMEs Development ICD

SESRIC/ICYF

two-day workshop on “Effect of

Entrepreneurship Strategies on SMEs Development” on 30 April - 01 May 2019 in Tehran

ICCIA

-Egypt Investment Forum: Cairo, Egypt,

2-4 March 2019 -Conference on “Investment Bridge” under the theme of “Exploring Business

Opportunities and Integrating

Businesses” along with the Exhibition of

Islamic Art, Culture and Products, 15-16 November 2019, Karachi, Pakistan -Workshop on Alliance with the Private

Sector for Sustainable Development,

Istanbul, Turkey, 9th December 2019

II/ TISC MEMBERS’ PLANNED ACTIVITIES IN 2020

TISC Members planned to organise the following activities in 2020:


- ICDT and ITFC to organize the 4th OIC TPOs in Dubai on 11-12 November 2020 on the sidelines of Expo 2020 Dubai (recommendations of the 3rd OIC TPOs Forum in Casablanca October

2017 agreed between ITFC, ICDT and Dubai Exports).

- ICDT and ITFC the 17th OIC Trade Fair, Pakistan/Senegal in 2020.


- ICDT, SMIIC, COMCEC and SESRIC the Workshop on Development of Muslim Friendly

Tourism in Senegal in 2020

- ICDT, SMIIC and SESRIC the 9th OIC Halal Expo and World Halal Summit on November 2020

- SMIIC, IIFA SMIIC Technical Committees Activities/Meetings (Technical Committee Week 8 and 9)

- SMIIC, ITFC, SESRIC, “OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 General Requirements for Halal Food”

Standard Training - ICCIA Exploring destinations for Health Tourism - 15th and 16th Working Group on Tourism of COMCEC, 2020

3) Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC: ICDT and IsDB and COMCEC/SESRIC: - Workshop on WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and Trade Integration in the OIC Member States

in Turkey, 1st Quarter 2020

- Workshop on Trade in Services in Casablanca, 1St Quarter 2020

- Workshop on Preparation of WTO Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) for the OIC Member States, First Semester 2020

- Consultative Meeting of Ministers of Trade of OIC for the preparation of WTO MC12; 2020

- TPS/OIC Workshop

- Workshop on negotiations techniques in trade for OIC Permanent Missions in Geneva, 2020.- 15th and 16th Working Group on Trade of COMCEC, 2020

28

4) Strategic Commodities Development:

- ICDT, ITFC, ISDB (Cooperation & Strategy Department) and ICCIA the Workshop to

enhance MSME’s participation in the groundnuts, cashew, cotton, sesame, leather and

Horticulture value chains for interested OIC countries 2020

- ICDT and ITFC the Buyers/Sellers Meeting on wood and wood products of the OIC Member

States (Libreville 2020)

- ICCIA The Promotion of Cottage Industries through SMEs - Furthermore, ICCIA and IOFS will also be collaborating on the proposed establishment

of Islamic Food Processing Association.

- ICCIA will be organizing Workshops on Strategic Commodities (Cassava, Wheat, Rice, Sugar, Dairy products) in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in various states of Nigerian in the year 2020.

5) Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement

- ICIEC and ICDT and SESRIC the Regional Investment Forum in OIC Member States (Baku,

2020) and the Training Workshop on Investment Promotion Techniques of the OIC IPAs (2020)

6) Private sector and SMEs Development

- Continuation of the use and update of ICCIA SME Support - Online Marketing for Women entrepreneurs workshop; Women Private Sector Forum,

Women and Youth Workshop: ICDT, ICCIA, ICD, WIEF, Online Marketing for Women entrepreneurs workshop (ICDT, WIEF, Benin, Mali, Dubai 2020)

- Other Activities of ICCIA Specialized Workshops/Training Programmes: - Workshop on spreading the Family Bank Experience in G-5 Sahel Countries, in Jeddah,

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 19-20th January 2020 - Forum on “Invest in Digital Economy”, Amman, Jordan, 5-6 April 2020 - Forum on Traditional Handicraft, Kingdom of Morocco, 2020 - Forum on Entrepreneurship and Start-ups, 2020 - 10th Businesswomen Forum in Islamic Chamber in United Arab Emirates in 2020. - Scaling-up existing Enterprises through Skill Development - Training Program on Digital Transformation in Istanbul, Turkey, 2020 - The Promotion of Cottage Industries and other enterprises through SMEs - Exploring destinations for Health Tourism

- Workshops on Strategic Commodities (Cassava, Wheat, Rice, Sugar, Dairy products) Chamber Academy Program for OIC Countries, in Istanbul, Turkey, 2020.

- Forum on Traditional Handicraft, Kingdom of Morocco, 2020

29

Table 12: Synthetic activities planned in 2020


Institution Partner

Institutions Planned Activities for 2020

Intra-OIC Trade Promotion

ICDT ITFC

4th OIC TPOs Forum in Dubai (recommendations of

the 3rd OIC TPOs Forum in Casablanca October 2017) 17th OIC Trade Fair, Pakistan/Senegal

Halal Industry Developmentincluding Tourism

SMIIC

SMIIC,

ICDT, SESRIC,

COMCEC

Workshop on Development of MFT in Senegal

SMIIC, ICDT 8th OIC Halal Expo and World Halal Summit

SMIIC, IIFA, SESRIC

The activities of Technical Committee on Halal Issues

SMIIC, ITFC, SESRIC

OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 Training

COMCEC 15th and 16th Working Group on Tourism

Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC

ICDT

COMCEC 15th and 16th Working Group on Trade

IsDB

Workshop on WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement and Trade Integration in the OIC Member States

Workshop on Preparation of WTO Twelfth Ministerial

Conference (MC12) for the OIC Member States

Consultative Meeting of Ministers of Trade of OIC for

the preparation of WTO MC12

Workshop on Trade in Services of the OIC Member

States Casablanca

Strategic Commodities Development

ITFC

ICDT,

ICCIA, IsDB

Workshops to enhance MSME’s participation in the groundnuts, cashew, cotton, sesame, leather and Horticulture value chains for interested OIC countries

ICCIA The Promotion of Cottage Industries through

SMEs Furthermore, ICCIA and IOFS will also be collaborating on the proposed establishment of

Islamic Food Processing Association.

ICCIA will be organizing Workshops on Strategic

Commodities (Cassava, Wheat, Rice, Sugar, Dairy products) in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry,

Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) in various states of Nigerian in the year 2020.

ICDT

Buyers/Sellers Meeting on wood and wood products

of the OIC Member States (Libreville 2020)

30


ICIEC

ICDT,

SESRIC

Regional Investment Forum in OIC Member States in

Baku

ICDT,

SESRIC

Training Workshop on Investment Promotion

Techniques of the OIC IPAs

Private sector and SMEs Development

ICD ICCIA

SME Support Center Scaling-up existing Enterprises through Skill

Development

Training Program on Digital Transformation in Istanbul, Turkey, 2020

Forum on “Invest in Digital Economy”, Amman, Jordan, 5-6 April 2020

Forum on Traditional Handicraft, Kingdom of

Morocco, 2020 Forum on Entrepreneurship and Start-ups, 2020 10th Businesswomen Forum in Islamic Chamber in

United Arab Emirates in 2020

31

III/ THE WAYFORWARD: ASSESSMENT, MAJOR CHALLENGES

A) REVIEW OF THE GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION STATUS:

The OIC Institutions are expected to achieve 195 activities by 2019 in various business lines such as Trade Financing and Insurances, Halal Development including Tourism, Investment Promotion, Development of Strategic Products, Trade Promotion, Trade Facilitation including TPS/OIC and Private Sector and SMEs Development for the benefit of OIC Member Countries. All these activities will contribute to reach the New TYPOA goals i.e. 25% of the Intra-OIC Trade share by 2025.

B) MAJOR CHALLENGES:

Since the establishment of the TISC, many efforts have been made to boost intra- OIC trade

particularly in the fields of capacity building, trade facilitation, trade financing and export

credit insurance, support to SMEs, products and services promotion of the Member States but

also the development of strategic products, namely food, agricultural and energy products.

Nevertheless, some impediments are still hampering the advancement of the integrated

projects.

The Governance: Since each institution has its own constituency; there is no binding principles to cooperate and to adopt the integrated projects in the annual budgets or to provide for special funding.

Financial constraints: Many OIC institutions are suffering from the insufficiency of dedicated funds to finance the planned activities this impediment stems primarily from the uncertainty of receiving on time the annual financial contributions of Member countries and the difficulties to mobilize special funding.

Shortage of professional staff: Many institutions reported facing shortage in professional staff able to help them achieve their mission.

Insufficient coordination and cooperation between OIC institutions: the number of joint projects between OIC institutions is quite low as compared to their total activities. Such an insufficient coordination and cooperation entails an insufficient implementation of integrated projects. Some TISC Members continue to organize their activities on institution level in silos.

Insufficiency of the involvement of the private sector in the implementation of the integrated projects undertaken by OIC institutions; Some OIC institutions direct their projects and activities toward the needs of the public sector and governments of Member

countries.

C) MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE CHAIR:

To adopt specific resolutions of the COMCEC and the CFM requesting OIC institutions

to deliver collectively some specific integrated projects. To improve the planning, programming and monitoring these projects; To improve the mobilization of resources and set up a special window to finance the major

projects involving several countries.

To convene the TISC General meeting on rotation basis among the Members.

32

To revise the integrated projects which didn’t show any tangible progress including the

coordination focal point

To contribute to the financing of TISC secretariat.

33

ANNEXES

A) TISC REPORTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 2018-2019

a) Report and Recommendations of TISC Second Meeting 2018

Following the recommendations of the Second Meeting of Trade and Investment Sub-Committee of ACMOI (TISC), the Third Annual Coordination Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Institutions (ACMOI) organized respectively in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco on March 6th, 2017 and in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 3-4 December 2017,

the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) organized the Third Meeting in Marrakesh on 8-9 March 2018. This Meeting was chaired by the Director General of ICDT.

Participants agreed:

to confirm the nomination of the team leaders for the 5 thematic Task Forces: 1. Halal Industry Development including Tourism: Leader: SMIIC; 2. Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC: Leader: ICDT; 3. Strategic Commodities Development: Leader: ITFC 4. Investment Promotion: Leader: ICIEC;

5. Private sector and SMEs Development: ICD.

Task Force leaders are to formulate actionable Road Maps in consultation with their members and submit them to Chair of TISC and Chair of Economic Affairs Committee of

ACMOI; Task Force teams are to submit reports for TISC meetings one month before the date of

meeting to avoid lengthy presentation during the session and give room for deeper reflection and discussion by participants;

To unify the format and the structure of team leaders reports as follows: Introduction, objectives, challenges, KPIs, mechanism of work (guidelines and approaches), expected results, timeframe, deliverables, Implementing TISC members, funding requirements, source of funding, beneficiary countries, way forward, conclusion, percentage of completion);

To focus on the implementation of Integrated Projects and activities by the Task Forces; To convey a standard format proposal (Template) by ITFC to the Task Forces on the

reporting to ACMOI and CFM;

To ask team leaders to submit their reports to TISC secretariat in the agreed upon format, after consulting with all team members;

To submit progress reports by the Team Leaders in February and October of each year;

To circulate the draft TISC reports to be submitted to the ACMOI and CFM meetings for review by all TISC Members;

To present a draft reporting mechanism by ICDT to TISC Members; To call upon ISDB to be member of all TISC Task Forces;

To align TISC activities with those endorsed by the ACMOI recommendations, To submit a calendar of main activities and events by ICDT to the TISC Members;

34

To give higher importance on empowering women and youth in TISC Programs and

activities; To call upon TISC Members to cooperate with the OIC Member States for the

implementation of the TPS/OIC;

To request TISC Members to attend the upcoming UNCTAD World Investment Forum to be held in October 2018 and the Dubai Expo 2020;

The meeting requested the TISC members to deeply study the working paper on Establishment of a Permanent Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the OIC Agreement for Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments prepared by ISDB for the implementation of this Agreement. In this regard, TISC members were called to give concrete proposals on the establishment of the OIC Permanent Dispute Settlement Body.

b) Report and Recommendations of TISC Second Meeting 2019

Following the recommendations of the Third Meeting of Trade and Investment Sub-Committee of ACMOI (TISC), the Fourth Annual Coordination Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Institutions (ACMOI) organized respectively in Casablanca,

Kingdom of Morocco on March 8th, 2018 and in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 3-4 December 2018, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) organized the Fourth Meeting in Marrakesh on 1st April 2019. This Meeting was chaired by the Director General of ICDT and the CEO of ITFC.

Thematic team leaders made presentations on ongoing integrated activities of the TISC Members: Recent Developments on TISC Activities

Halal Industry Development including Tourism Single Window Modality and Trade Facilitation, including TPS/OIC Strategic Commodities Development Investment Promotion and Investment Dispute Settlement Private sector and SMEs Development

ITFC presented a report on enhancing the work of TISC and pointed out solutions to overcome obstacles hampering coordination of TISC. Thus, ITFC proposed orientations for enhancing TISC joint activities by raising TISC issues during the ACMOI and CFM meetings and better

involvement of managers of TISC Members in its activities. In addition, he stressed the need to review the TISC structure, reporting activities, organizing integrated projects and activities along with KPI. The representative of ITFC presented a working paper on the development of

strategic commodities projects and activities financed by ITFC for the benefit of OIC Countries.

After fruitful debate, participants agreed on the following recommendations:

welcomes ICYF’s Membership to ACMOI TISC and call on the next ACMOI Committee Session to be held in December 2019 to accordingly consider this application in order to

include Youth Economic related initiatives by ICYF in the Agenda of TISC;

requests ITFC to organize technical meetings before the TISC Meeting;

35

requests TISC members to convey to the Theme Leaders the planned activities and

projects for the period 2020-2022 so that an actionable Road Map including KPIs would be prepared and submitted to the Chair of TISC two months before the upcoming TISC/ACMOI Meetings;

requests the theme leaders to submit progress reports each year to TISC Members for approval before sending them to the TISC Chairman;

ICDT to circulate the draft TISC consolidated report and the calendar of main activities and events to be submitted to the ACMOI and CFM meetings for review by all TISC Members;

To align TISC activities with those endorsed by the ACMOI recommendations, To shift the agenda item on infrastructure development and Regional Integration from

TISC Sub-Committee Agenda to FIDEPS Sub-Committee;

requests TISC Members to dedicate activities and projects for the benefit of AlQuds under the lead of BAMQ;

To organize a workshop on economic issues on the sidelines of the OIC Festival to be held in Abu Dhabi on 24-26 April 2019;

To call upon TISC Members to cooperate with the OIC Member States for the implementation of the TPS/OIC;

To focus on the early operationalization of TPS-OIC through targeting interested

Members Countries to join the system. In this regard, ICDT and COMCEC Coordination Office should organize sensitizing events to raising awareness of the Member Countries and regional economic Groupings (ECOWAS, ECO, ASEAN…) on TPS-OIC. After operationalization of the TPS-OIC, a further study will be made to deepen the

cooperation; To focus on activities and projects for the benefit of SMEs Development and Strategic

Commodities Development; To organize a PPP Forum in Gabon in collaboration with the concerned divisions of

IsDB Group and OIC relevant Institutions.

Besides, the 5th Meeting of TISC will be organised in the Kingdom of Morocco in March 2020 back to back with ICDT Board of Directors. In this regard, ICDT will consult with OIC Institutions and communicate the date and venue of this event.

ITFC will inform TISC Members the date of the Technical Committee Meeting

B) PROGRESS REPORTS OF INSTITUTIONS

36

I- SMIIC

PROGRESS REPORT OF THE THEMATIC TASK FORCE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF HALAL INDUSTRY INCLUDING

TOURISM (2018-2019)

OCTOBER 2019

1. INTRODUCTION

As a deliberation of the Third Meeting of Trade and Investment Sub Committee of ACMOI (TISC), held in

Marrakesh - Kingdom of MOROCCO on 8 March 2018, the Halal Industry Development including Tourism was

formed as follows:

1) Leader: SMIIC,

2) Members: ICDT, ISDB, ITFC, ICIEC, ICD, SESRIC and COMCEC Coordination Office.

The Task Force is responsible for developing and following – up the joint projects on Halal Industry including

tourism.

2. OBJECTIVE

In accordance with the TISC Meeting’s decisions, this report has been prepared to follow – up the activities of

the Task Force and the progress of the joint projects.

3. PROGRESS

3.1 Progress of the Task Force

- An Actionable Roadmap for Halal Industry Development Including Tourism has been prepared.

3.2 Progress of the Joint Projects (2018-2019)

- 6th OIC Halal Expo and World Halal Summit 2018 (ICDT, SMIIC, IsDB, IIFA, ITFC, SESRIC, and COMCEC CCO)

The 6th OIC Halal Expo and World Halal Summit (WHS) 2018 were held on 29 November-02 December 2018 in

Istanbul, under the auspices of President of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN in line with the

co-operation framework between SMIIC and Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) under the theme

of “Halal and Healthy Life: Awareness and Sustainability”. The aim of the WHS and OIC Halal Expo is to promote

intra-OIC Halal Trade and sharing of the latest developments regarding Halal across the OIC.

World Halal Summit 2018 hosted 60 speakers from 25 different countries. Also 5000 delegates from 38 different

countries followed the conference sessions:

1) SESSION A: HALAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE CONFERENCE (Halal Quality Infrastructure

(Standardization, Conformity Assessment, Metrology and Accreditation)

2) SESSION B: SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE (Scientific, Experts Views, Innovation Solutions for Halal Challenges)

3) SESSION C: HALAL TOURISM

4) SESSION D: THE IMPORTANCE OF HALAL FINANCE IN PRODUCTION AND INVESTMENT CONFERENCE

37

Meanwhile, 6th OIC Halal Expo gathered 350 company from 33 different countries to introduce their

products/system in this platform and provided networking opportunities and B2B meetings to see the roles of

each contributor in this industry.

- "SMIIC Training Program 2018 “Harmonization of National Halal Standards with the OIC/SMIIC Halal

Standards” (SMIIC, COMCEC CCO): SMIIC Training Program 2018 was held on the 16-20 July 2018 in İstanbul,

Turkey. The training was attended by 20 delegates from Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Iran,

Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Uganda and given in 3 official

languages of SMIIC (English, Arabic and French).

- SESRIC, COMCEC and ICDT organised a Training program on “Improving Islamic Tourism Ecosystem in OIC

Member Countries: Destination & Industry Development” on 9-12 July 2018 in Malatya, Turkey.

- Capacity Development Project on "Improving Halal Tourism Ecosystem in Uzbekistan" (SESRIC, SMIIC): SMIIC

and SESRIC gave a training on "Halal Tourism and Halal Friendly Hospitality Services" to the representatives of

Private and Public institutions of Uzbekistan which was organised by the State Committee of the Republic of

Uzbekistan for Tourism Development on 13-15 November 2018 in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan.

The training included the fundamentals of the Halal Tourism such as Standards, and possible strategies for the

development of Halal Tourism in Uzbekistan.

- Regional Conference “Implementation of SMIIC Standards for Halal products in Central Asia” and SMIIC

Training 2018 Central Asia: SMIIC delegates participated and gave a speech during the Regional Conference

“Implementation of SMIIC Standards for Halal products in Central Asia” which was held on the 19 November

2018 in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. The Conference was organized by SMIIC and the Ministry of Economy of the

Kyrgyz Republic. The Conference was attended by approximately 120 representatives from the private and public

sector from Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

SMIIC Auditor Foundation Training Program 2018-Central Asia was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. The training

was attended by 30 participants from private and public sector from Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and

Uzbekistan. The training was given in English and Russian. The program was co-organized by SMIIC and The

Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic. The program consisted of 2 parts:

Part 1. Introduction, implementation and use of OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards included introductory training of

experts regarding the procedures for adoption, implementation and use of the OIC/SMIIC series of 3 Halal

Standards whilst providing training in SMIIC Information System (IS) and Technical Committee (TC) work.

Part 2. OIC/SMIIC 1: 2011 General Guidelines on Halal Food Foundation Auditor Training

- The 7th OIC Halal Expo and World Halal Summit 2019 ((ICDT, SMIIC, IsDB, IIFA, ITFC, SESRIC, and COMCEC

CCO): 7th OIC Halal Expo and the World Halal Summit 2019 will be held under the auspices of the Presidency of

the Republic of TURKEY on 28 November - 01 December 2019 in Istanbul, TURKEY.

7th OIC Halal Expo offers a unique opportunity to showcase the products and services of companies and

maximize their export profits in response to the demands of new developing Halal markets. Meanwhile, the 5th

World Halal Summit 2019 under the theme of “Halal for All Generations: Importance of Family and Youth” as an

important gathering, will also be held simultaneously with the 7th OIC Halal Expo in which the conferences will

be attended by prominent speakers in the sub-fields of halal industry such as food, cosmetics, tourism, Islamic

finance, textile and modest fashion…etc.

38

The sessions of the program are as follows:

SESSION 1, STANDARDISATION AND RELATED ISSUES FOR HALAL QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE

SESSION 2, CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION IN HALAL INDUSTRY

SESSION 3: ISLAMIC BANKING AND FINANCE CONFERENCE

SESSION 4, HALAL TOURISM AND HALAL LIFESTYLE

SESSION 6, HALAL LIFESTYLE: HALAL FOR ALL GENERATIONS

SESSION 7, HALAL LIFESTYLE: HALAL IN DAILY LIFE

SESSION 8, HALAL FOOD AND RELATED NEW CHALLENGES

SESSION 9, HALAL AND HEALTH: HALAL PHARMACY, COSMETICS AND TESTING

- The Project on “Increasing Public Halal Awareness in OIC Countries” - 2019 (SMIIC, COMCEC CCO): The project

aims to increase Halal awareness and knowledge among public and specialists by producing high quality,

interesting and knowledgeable short films and books. It will be realized in 2019.

- Workshop on Developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism in Suriname and Guyana Within the framework of

COMCEC Funding project and Investment and Development of Turkey, ICDT in collaboration with SESRIC and

SMIIC organised a workshop on Developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism in Suriname and Guyana on 15-17 July

2019 in Paramaribo-Suriname.

- OIC/SMIIC 1 - Foundation Training was organized by SMIIC in collaboration with ITFC during the 28 September

– 01 October 2019 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey with the participation of 28 delegates from Afghanistan,

Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey, and

Uzbekistan. The Training program aimed to give the necessary foundation knowledge of the OIC/SMIIC 1 and

encourage the harmonization of Halal Standards used in the OIC and internationally by aiding in the adoption

and use of the OIC/SMIIC Halal Standards. Representatives from SMIIC Member States were trained in:

a) The adoption, implementation and use of the series of 3 OIC/SMIIC: 2019 Halal Food Standards, b) Use SMIIC

Information System (IS) and Technical Committee (TC) work and preparation of Standards,

c) Certifying/inspecting body requirements and OIC/SMIIC 2:2019 Requirements for Bodies providing Halal

Certification

d) Halal and use, implementation of series 3 OIC/SMIIC guidelines

e) Use of OIC/SMIIC 1:2019 General Requirements for Halal Food

The program consisted of 4-day training completed with a test.

Part 1. Implementation and use of the series of 3 OIC/SMIIC: 2019 Halal Food Standards

Part 2. OIC/SMIIC 1: 2019 General Requirements on Halal Food Training

- Halal Standards Development (SMIIC, IIFA, and SESRIC): The Technical Committees and SMIIC/CCA are

continuing to work on 53 (fifty-three) ongoing projects, in which 14 (fourteen) of them are in Draft Standard (DS)

stage, 14 (fourteen) projects are in Final Draft Standard (FDS) stage and 10 (ten) standards have been published.

39

- The 6th Technical Committees (TCs) Week Meetings were held during the 15-21 April 2019 in İstanbul,

Turkey. The delegation from the following SMIIC Member, Observer States and liaison organizations participated

in the meetings: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya,

Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and International Islamic Fiqh

Academy. The committees studied on the more than 37 projects like Halal Food Additives, Halal Edible Gelatine,

Halal Tourism – General Guidelines, Date, Halal Supply Chain, Halal Management Systems, …etc. were studied

by the committees.

- The 7th Technical Committees (TCs) Week Meetings were held on the 23-28 September 2019 in İstanbul,

Turkey with the participation of 97 delegates from Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia,

Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sudan, Suriname, Tunisia, Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia &

Herzegovina, Thailand, GCC Countries Standardization Organization (GSO) and the International Islamic Fiqh

Academy (IIFA).

The activities of the technical committees (TCs) regarding halal issues are given below.

TC 1 – Halal Food Issues

1) OIC/SMIIC 1:2019, General Requirements for Halal Food (Published)

2) OIC/SMIIC 22, Halal Edible Gelatine (Draft Standard)3) OIC/SMIIC 23, Animal feed for Halal Production Guidelines (Committee Draft)4) OIC/SMIIC 24, Halal Food Additives (Draft Standard)5) Maximum Limit for Residues of Ethyl Alcohol (Ethanol) in Food (Working Draft) Test Method for Detection of Porcine in Food Products and Cosmetics (Working Draft)

TC 3 – Service Site Issues

“OIC/SMIIC CD 6 -Particular requirements for the application of OIC/SMIIC 1” has been finalized and

reached to publication.

TC 5 – Tourism and Related Services

“OIC/SMIIC FDS 9 – Halal Tourism – General Requirements” was revised and the final draft standard

ballot has been initiated. This is the final stage before the publication.

TC 8 – Leather and Tanning Material

1) Islamic Consumer Goods: Usage of animal bone, skin and hair – General guidelines (Draft Standard) 2) Halal Leather – Terms and Definitions Related to Halal Leather Industry (New work registered)3) OIC/SMIIC 13, General Requirements of Halal Leather - Tanning Material (Working Draft)

TC 10 – Halal Supply Chain

1) OIC/SMIIC 17-1 - Halal Supply Chain Management System –Part 1 – Transportation - General

Requirements (Draft Standard)

2) OIC/SMIIC 17-2 - Halal Supply Chain Management System –Part 2 – Warehousing - General


3) OIC/SMIIC 17-3 - Halal Supply Chain Management System –Part 3 – Retailing - General


TC 11 – Halal Management Systems

The committee is working on the project “OIC/SMIIC 18 – Halal Management Systems”.

TC 15 – Terminology

1) Terms and Definitions related to Halal Standards (Committee Draft)

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SMIIC Committee on Conformity Assessment (CCA)

1) OIC/SMIIC 2:2019 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for Bodies Providing Halal Certification

(Published)

2) OIC/SMIIC 3:2019 Conformity Assessment – Requirements for Halal Accreditation Bodies

Accrediting Halal Conformity Assessment Bodies (Published)

3) OIC/SMIIC CD.2 33 - Conformity assessment - Example of a Certification Scheme for Halal Products

(Draft Standard)

4) OIC/SMIIC CD.2 34 - Conformity assessment - General Requirements for Bodies Operating

Certification of Persons Involved in the Halal Related Activities (Draft Standard)

5) OIC/SMIIC CD.2 35 - Conformity assessment - General Requirements for the Competence of

Laboratories Performing Halal Testing (Draft Standard)

6) OIC/SMIIC CD.2 36 - Conformity assessment - General Requirements of Proficiency Testing for Halal

Purposes (Draft Standard)

- Halal Accreditation (Multilateral recognition): SMIIC Accreditation Council held two meetings in 2018 and one

meeting in 2019. The study on establishment of an accreditation system for the multilateral recognition is an

ongoing process.

3.3 Other Expos/Forums/Conferences on Halal Issues

The events on Halal Issues that institutions have participated/supported in 2018-2019 are as follows: - SMIIC - Thailand Halal Assembly 2018 which was held on 14 - 16 December 2018 in Bangkok, Kingdom

of Thailand. - SMIIC - World Halal Assembly Philippines 2019, organized by Department of Science and Technology

Region XII (DOST XII) of Philippines, held on 26-27 February 2019 in Manila/ PHILIPPINES. - SMIIC - Inauguration Ceremony of Philippine National Halal Laboratory and Science Center on 25

February 2019 in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, PHILIPPINES. - SMIIC - 9th International Moscow Halal Congress and opening ceremony of the Russian Halal Expo-

Congress Exhibition, Muslim Religious Organization of the Russian Federation which took place on the April 26, 2018 in Moscow-Russian Federation.

- SMIIC - 10th International Economic Summit “Russia — Islamic World: Kazan Summit 2018” which was held on 10-12 May 2018 in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation.

- SMIIC - The Sarajevo Halal Fair (SHF) which was held on 27-28 September 2018 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

- SMIIC - Indonesia International Halal Lifestyle Conference and Business Forum 2018 held on 03-04 October 2018, in Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia.

- SMIIC - The Meeting of IIFA Council held on 28 October – 01 November 2018 in Madinah, KSA. - SMIIC - World Halal Day, Korea 2018, 1-3 November 2018, Seul. - SMIIC - The 2nd Philippine National Halal Conference: “Leveraging on Unified Opportunities for All-

Inclusive Growth in the Philippine Halal Export Development and Promotion” which was held on 02-03 May 2019 in Clark, Pampanga.

- SMIIC - The Global Halal Summit (GHaS) organized by Malaysia Halal Council, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) together with Ministry of Economic Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) on 01-06 April 2019 in Kuala Lumpur

- SMIIC - The Volga Investment Summit and World Halal Day which held on 03-05 October 2019 in Samara, Russia

- SMIIC - Kazan Summit 2019 – on 24-26 April 2019 in Kazan, Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation. - SMIIC, ICDT - 5th Edition of FOHAM organized by IMANOR on 14 March 2019 in Casablanca, Morocco - SESRIC, Panel Session on Prospects and Challenges in Halal Tourism in the Islamic World, during the

Second International Halal Congress, 4 April 2019, Antalya, Turkey.

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ITFC

ITFC ACTIVITIES AND PROJECTS ON COMMODITIES DEVELOPMENT

Project Name Brief Description Achievements 2018-2019

Background:

- Groundnuts are of paramount importance to The Gambia. About 45% of agricultural land is devoted to production. The sector employs nearly 70% of the workforce, and exports account for 66% of the total exports of agricultural products.

- Aflatoxins (Aflatoxin) counts as the principal trade risk. It has prevented Gambian groundnuts to access premium markets in the European Union (EU), where permitted limits of aflatoxins are capped between 4 parts per billion (ppb) and 10 ppb, while The Gambian groundnuts have remained equal or above 20 ppb.

- Consequently, production has scaled down, resulting in low prices being earned on export, unattractive prices to producers and reduction in farm participation.

- Annual economic losses over the period 2000 - 2015 is estimated at USD$20 million.

- The Aflatoxin Mitigation Program (AMP) was developed in response to this issue. It concerns the purchase of Aflasafe, a biological control product that has proven effective in reducing aflatoxin in groundnuts.

- When verified as aflatoxin-free, the groundnuts will be purchased from the farmers at a 10% premium on the declared farm gate price, processed and exported to the EU for a minimum 35% premium price.

- Main Achievements (2018): - June 2018: 700 farmers were selected

by NFSC in collaboration with “Cooperative Produce Marketing Societies” and Farmers Associations, to benefit from the project.

- July 2018: The selected farmers were trained on the use of the Aflasafe (safe natural solution to the problem of aflatoxin) by an international Expert from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

- August 2018: 50 metric tons of Aflasafe was supplied by Bamtaare services of Senegal.

- August 2018: Distribution of the Aflasafe to farmers

- A total of 4730 hectares were treated by Aflasafe under supervisor of NFSC and agricultural extension staff. November – December 2018:

- The sampling of farmers has been made and results shows very good results.

- The AMP is divided into two identical phases. The first pilot was effective on the 28th June 2018 and was completed by 31st March 2019.

- The second pilot implementation is currently ongoing.

- For the season 2019, out of 5,300 hectares initially identified, the program will deal only 2,300 hectares, since the rain did not come on time and when it started raining, the country experienced long periods of dry weather. It is the reason why the program will use the equivalent of 23 tons of Aflasafe SN01 in 2019 instead of the 50 tons.

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Gambia Aflatoxin Technical Assistance Project:

- In this context, the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs requested ITFC’s support for the implementation of the AMP, in collaboration with National Food Security Processing and Marketing Cooperation (NFSPMC). Thus, the Aflatoxin Mitigation Program (AMP) was designed to enhance the quality of Groundnuts for export into the European and other international markets.

AMP Expected Outcome:

- Reduction of Aflatoxin contamination in groundnuts to levels of zero and less than 10 ppb in order to export large volumes and generate high returns and income for the producers.

AMP Expected Outputs:

- Reduction of Aflatoxin contamination to levels of zero and below 10ppb

Increase export value of groundnuts revenues

- Enhance capacities of farmers and SMEs to produce high quality products in line with international market standards and clients’ requirements;

- Reduce Aflatoxin contamination along the groundnut value chain.

- It is recommended to amend the technical assistance with NFSC and the Government of The Gambia and include a provision to prioritize the registered farmers and Aflasafe treated farms in the sequencing of groundnut purchase for the campaign 2019/2020.

- Also, there are numerous other areas that can be used to mitigate aflatoxin contamination, including GAP (good agricultural practices), use of farmer field school, application of fertilizer, irrigation, introduction of groundnuts with short maturing duration.

- Therefore, beyond the use of Aflasafe, the Alflatoxin Mitigation Program is an Agriculture Development Program that will need to combined interventions or various stakeholders including the public and private sector.

The trade development component in this program includes two parallel deliverables: 1) Training of Farmers, 2) preparations for setting up the training center.

Under its new strategy to offer Trade Integrated Solutions to Member Countries, ITFC’s Indonesian Coffee Export Development Program (ICEDP) addresses the twin challenges faced by the Indonesian Coffee Industry. Within the scope of the program, ITFC will extend US$100 million financing to exporting SMEs in 3 years period that will enhance their competitiveness in global markets and make cash ready for small farm holders as return for their crop.

In 2017, ITFC started to work closely with its local partners to prepare “Five Years Business Plan for Coffee Farmers

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Indonesia Coffee Export Development Program:

Training”, which is based on the stakeholder consultation phase conducted by a contracted local NGO. As part of this program, ITFC started the implementation of an ambitious training program for the coffee farmers, starting from September 2018.

The Training, which is was implemented in phases, provided the opportunity to the farmers to acquire the best farming practices in coffee farming, with the final aim to increase the production of Coffee. For this purpose, ITFC is partnering with SCOPI, a Sustainable Coffee Platform in Indonesia, to develop a 3-year nation-wide program employing latest technologies to train and upgrade Master Trainers who would then impart their skills and knowledge to the 2.0 million coffee farmers in Indonesia.

Trainings on organic farming and Good Agricultural Practices delivered to 349 coffee farmers in Dairi and Karo, North Sumatra. These trainings meant to equip the farmers in addressing the challenges brought on by climate change and increase the quality and quantity of their coffee production. It is envisaged that the output of the training will ultimately lead to improve the livelihoods of the farmers and ultimately enhance their export of coffee to the world. Making this Program an excellent example of enhancing the integration of our Member Countries in the global value chains.

In recognition of the farmers’ efforts to upgrade their skills set, a graduation ceremony was organized on 16th of July 2019 in Karo North Sumatra, Indonesia, attended by the farmers, the partner NGO and the local authorities.

Comoros Trade Integrated Solution:

ITFC, in coordination with partners, will support the Government of Comoros in its efforts to center its export system on promotion and marketing, to address the absence of direct access to end markets

From 28/09/2019 to 02/10/2019, four professionals of the National Office of Vanilla of Comoros (ONAV) took part of a 7-day training in Uganda. The training involved a combination of classroom

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for main export cash crops, especially the vanilla.

sessions by practitioners in Ugandan successful cash crops development and export institutions and field visit.

The various topics taught concerned:

1- Bringing farmers to markets, by UEPB (5 hours)

a. The roles and actions of UEPB in linking farmers to local and foreign markets: Methods and methodologies, instruments b. The export readiness program: planning and preparing for successful market access c. Case studies of the market linkage program: inclusive field info sessions, starting local to go global.

2- Cash crop sector organization, the case of Coffee, by UCDA (3 hours)

a) Promoting a cash crop: from the farm to the market: successful systems and required stakeholders b) Market intelligence: keeping a level playing field and protecting small farmers in the absence of price stabilization mechanism

3- Farmers Ownership Model (7 hours)

a) Empowerment of farmers: How farmers take ownership of each step on the value chain b) Centralizing essential services in the hand of the cooperatives c) Governance, organization and trust among cooperative members

Guinea- reverse linkage Project:

1. Background: During the visit of H.E Pr. Alpha Condé, President of the Republic of Guinea to IsDB HQs in August 2017, he requested the support of ITFC in developing the export sector, particularly the agricultural products.

2. Following this request, the IsDB and ITFC collaborated to support Guinea for the enhancement of the value chain for exporting agricultural products through the

Main Achievements (2018 - 2019):

1. The project document was approved.

2. The IsDB Group has succeeded in attracting several partners who have confirmed their contributions to the project implementation as well as to its total budget estimated at US $ 1,580,000. In this regard, each partner's contribution to the budget was estimated as follows: IsDB: US$ 280,000 (17%), ITFC: US$ 300,000 (19%), the Arab Bank for Economic

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Reverse Linkage mechanism. Tunisia was selected to be the provider of knowledge and expertise given the sound experience of Tunisian institutions in agricultural products export.

Project Goal and Objective: 3. The main objective of the project

is to contribute to the efforts of the GoG towards developing and improving the whole value chain for exporting Mango and Cashew.

4. The specific objectives of the project are: (i) Strengthen the technical and organizational capacities of the institutions in charge of promoting exports of the mango and cashew; (ii) Establishment of the inter-profession for the two mango and cashew sectors and the strengthening of their capacity in the development of strategies and plans for the development of market-oriented value chain; (iii)Diversify the exportable supply of the mango sector thanks to the development of dried mango activity; (iv) Upgrade of the Guinean Packaging and Carton Society and the Kankan Packaging Station; and (v) Supporting institutions and economic operators of two value chains in the market access process and training of export advisers.

5. The project’s components are: (i) Improving the ecosystem of the export value chain by strengthening the capacities of the export support institutions and linking the stages/components of the value chain by establishment of two the inter-professional organizations; (II) Strengthening the value chain activities for mango preservation and processing; (iii) Providing tools and instruments

Development in Africa (BADEA): $ 300,000 (19%), the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)/ WTO: $ 300,000 (19%), Tunisian Government: $ 200,000 (13%) and Guinean Government: $ 200,000. All the indicated contributions will be paid in the form of grants.

3. All the project Partners signed the Aide-Mémoire (Memorandum) on the 5th of November 2018 in Conakry regarding the components, budget and implementation mechanism of the project.

4. The Project Agreement was approved by all the Partners.

5. The project activities will be lunched during the 1st week of December 2019.

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for support to market access; and (iv) Coordination, communication and monitoring of project implementation.

Program for the Development of Dates Sector in Medina Region

Background:

-Al Madinah region is ranked 3rd among the main date producing areas in the KSA after Riyadh and Qassim areas.

-It represents 16% of the total number of date palm trees and 11% of the total date harvested area.

-Al Madinah dates are very famous and well appreciated by in the Muslim countries because of their spiritual character (produced in the area second holy place of Islam). In spite of its high marketing potential, the date sector in Al Madinah region is facing several constraints affecting its development both at local and international levels.

-The “Program for the Development of Dates Sector in Madinah Region (PDDM)” is the proposed solution by ITFC to develop the sector in Madinah. It starts its implementation in January 2018 by the International Trade Centre (ITC) under AfTIAS Program. Its outcome and outputs are the following:

Program outcome:

-Addressing the dates sector constraints at farmer, enterprise and at institutional levels in order to ensure full benefit of the potential of the sector in Al Madinah region with increasing internal and external demand.

Program outputs:

-Output 1: Value chain analysis developed for the Dates Sector

-Output 2: Farmers and small SMEs organized to produce value-added products (using innovative approach) and manage sales to markets

-Output 3: Enhanced capacities of farmers and SMEs in the Medina region

Main PDDM Achievements (2018 - 2019):

- Since January 2018, the project team has finalized the diagnostic phase and the following were accomplished:

1. Field visits to meet farmers and associations conducted

2. Sectoral data collected and analyzed 3. Major challenges to sector

development identified/ categorized 4. Potential demand for exports (weights

and values) identified 5. Benchmarking mission to Tunisia

conducted 6. Value chain analyzed and presented to

stakeholders 7. Sector competitiveness matrix

developed 8. Untapped potential in export markets

identified 9. Product/market match and the

corresponding market channels identified

10. Sector growth strategy and implementation roadmap developed

The following three categories of activities

under implementation:

1. Capacity building of farmers: Within a focused Training of Trainers (ToT) framework, the project developed the training modules and provide training of trainers on areas related to the following:

a. Global GAP requirements provide technical support to the farmers on Global GAP requirements and procedures. The training of trainers will become the preparatory stage for the sector to acquire the GAP certification.

b. Marketing: Supply chain management, costing and pricing.

c. Business Generation: Sales techniques and preparation for

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to produce high quality products in line with international market standards and buyer’s requirements

-Output 4: Business linkages created in target markets for export ready enterprises in the Dates Sector.

international exhibitions and matchmaking events.

2. Classification of Al-Madinah dates: During November 2019, the project will develop the standard classification of Al-Madinah date product to support export activities to high-end and niche markets.

3. Certification: The project will develop awareness and get prepared to apply for trade-facilitation certifications, such as ECOCERT (organic farming), and GIAHS certificate for traditional farming linked to historical background (only granted to 36 cities worldwide), in addition to Fair Trade quality seal if needed.

Trade Finance Operations in 2019 (Up to Q.3):

S.N Country Commodity USD (Mil)

1 Cameroon Cotton Seeds, Soybean 111.00

2 Comoros Rice 31.00

3 Egypt Foods Products 193.00

4 Indonesia Crude Palm Oil 40.00

5 Suriname Foods Products 25.00

TOTAL 400.00

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ICCIA

ICCIA’s Report Submitted to Trade and Investment

Sub-Committee (TISC)

49

ICCIA’s Report Submitted to Trade and Investment Sub-Committee (TISC)

SMEs Development:

SMEs are important engines of growth, for jobs and social cohesion in different countries. Therefore, SMEs development need to be considered as one of the important areas of cooperation among Islamic Countries. SMEs are now faced with an increased competition due to globalization and trade liberalization. Specially in cases of where, low-price products are found in market that threaten the prospect of SMEs in some countries.

It has been generally recognized that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play important roles in supporting national economic development. Such important roles of SMEs can be observed in a number of aspects including labor absorption, income generation and distribution, poverty alleviation, training ground for the development and upgrading entrepreneurship skills, and an important means for promoting forward and backward linkages in geographically and economically diverse sectors of the economy in many countries. It maybe mentioned that, even if industrial policies do not favor SMEs and economic programs often continue to result in large capital investment, yet SMEs role in economic development remains of paramount significance.

Therefore, SMEs seem to be an “accepted panacea” for a country facing economic challenges e.g. poverty and unemployment in its development policies especially for those less developed countries.

Islamic social entrepreneurship is proposed as a model in empowering SMEs to operate in a Muslim society. Basically, this model utilizes a stock of Islamic social capital and cooperation among Muslim entrepreneurs. The primary purpose of SMEs to operate within Islamic social entrepreneurship is to create jobs for inclusive growth. This could be accompanied by professionalism, accountability, and efficiency based on new technology; continuing education, and the willingness of people or related agents to work together. Consequently, the focus could be to work more towards the betterment of the Ummah.

In view of the above, the ICCIA is working on a strategy which would target the following::- To develop a networking systems among Islamic Countries’ SMEs; To develop data and statistical information as a basis for establishing measures to address

the issues of SME financing and, Conduct Training for SMEs in the Agriculture Sector. Develop a policy for Capacity Building of SMEs in Agriculture Sector.

To undertake these objective, the creation of a one window “SME Support Center” could be established which could provide the following:-

SME Support Center:This Center could be established in some countries to provide local consultation services and various information as a supporting center that is familiar and easy to use for those who plan to

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start up a business and to help small enterprises with issues such as business innovation. This system can be linked up with some developed countries as Focal Points to help less developed countries in the OIC. The work plan of such centers could focus on learning from best practices on human resource training and empowering with new technologies and softwares, providing statistic and analysis information, for export and import etc. These Centers can provide, to SMEs and venture companies, financial and technical assistance and high-level consulting services by experienced experts in management, finance, and legal matters. Towards this end the ICCIA is in the process of working these modalities with its interested Member Chambers and due to certain technical constraints, these efforts are still being undertaken. In addition, some workshops have been held and others are being planned to be held in 2020.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: Tourism is primarily a service provider industry and investment in this industry is important. Tourism is not only confined to international travelers, but domestic tourism can be promoted, taking into consideration that the local tourist will be familiar with the home conditions and hence will not be faced by the challenges that the international visitors would be faced with.

Another aspect which has gained considerable importance, is the Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT). This development has in itself facilitated the rising trend of tourism by providing the facilities, environment and food according to Shariah principles.

Establishment of an “Islamic Tourism Portal” The Executive Program for the implementation of the framework for development and cooperation in the domain of Tourism among Member States, which was approved by the 9th

Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers, held in Dec. 2015 in Niger called upon ICCIA and ICDT to create an “OIC Tourism Portal” or “OIC Internet Guide for Tourism” in three languages for the dissemination of information on tourism related issues in the OIC Countries. In this respect, ICCIA has prepared a section on Islamic Tourism and has setup the Islamic Tourism Portal, which has been launched on 20th October 2017. The portal aims to facilitate in increasing public awareness about the OIC Countries. This information focuses on existing tourist attractions, resources and facilities in the Islamic world with a view to encouraging tourists’ to visit other Islamic countries. The Section covers information related to various aspects of tourism of the OIC Member countries. The link is as follows:-

http://tourismar.iccia.com; http://tourism.iccia.com

Solutions and Recommendations:-

1. In order to promote tourism as a means for economic growth, social progress and sustainability, the Member States are called upon to formulate national policies, which could increase cooperation between the public and private sectors and enhance international cooperation and cooperation within the Member Countries.

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2. Call upon the relevant Member States to highlight “Health Tourism”, where such natural facilities are available.

3. With the development of Tourism, the local industry, cottage and handicrafts can be developed as well, which in turn can impact the inclusive growth of the economy, which will contribute substantially in the growth of handicrafts and tertiary industries.

4. The Private Sector be facilitated by the Public Sector to offer competitive packages including airfare and tours of OIC Countries.

5. A general awareness programme in OIC Countries has to be initiated by way of production of literature and advertisement on touristic attractions including detailed information about climate and other areas of interest. Furthermore, Tourism be promoted & developed in the curriculum in the academic institutions.

6. The national and cultural festivals be promoted as tourist attractions, which could also be a means to generate revenue.

7. Call upon the Member Countries to facilitate the issuances of visa and develop their communication such as the transportation system.

8. Call upon relevant agencies to set-up Micro-credit entities, which could facilitate the setting-up of SMEs.

9. To develop data and statistical information as a basis for establishing measures to address the issues of SME financing.

********

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COMCEC

REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COMCEC COORDINATION OFFICE ON TISC THEMES

Halal Industry Development

Under the COMCEC Project Funding (CPF), the project titled ‘Empowering Halal Industry to Boost Intra-OIC Trade’ was implemented by Indonesia. This project aims to increase the awareness and compliance of industry to Halal concept, essential rules, and regulations applied by the OIC Member Countries. The project activities consisted of a training, workshop and study visit to Turkey. While the study visit was about learning the Turkey’s experience in this field, the workshop and training focused on understanding Halal Product Concept and essential rules and regulations applied by the OIC Member Countries.

SMIIC also implemented a project is titled ‘Increasing Public Halal Awareness in OIC countries’ under the CPF. The purpose of the project was to increase Halal awareness and knowledge among public and private sector specialists by producing high quality, and knowledgeable multimedia materials. The project included production of short films, one illustrated halal training manual and one comics and coloring book to that end.

The Project titled “Training of Accommodation Providers in the OIC Member Countries on Muslim Friendly Tourism Standards and Quality Service Provision” was implemented by the Gambia. The purpose of this project was to familiarize the accommodation service providers in the Gambia and in other OIC Members with the Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT) and to make these countries capable of regulating their accommodation establishments in line with MFT standards. The training program, which included inputs gathered through the study visit to Malaysia, was held in the province of Banjul. With a 5-day training program, 20 trainees from the Gambia, Nigeria, and Senegal were trained on MFT standards for hotels in terms of necessary customer services for Muslim customers.

The other project titled “Improving Human Capacity on Muslim Friendly Tourism for Regulating Accommodation Establishments in the OIC Member Countries” was implemented by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Mozambique with the partnership of Malaysia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Uganda. The aim of this project was to enable participants to regulate the accommodation establishments in the light of MFT Guidelines, to establish a national level harmonization platform for halal products and therefore increasing Member Countries' institutional capacities. In this context, a training program was organized for enhancing capacity of the participants from the public sector, tour operators, and travel agents on the Muslim Friendly Tourism.

ICDT implemented the project titled “Developing Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) in Guyana and Suriname” within the framework of COMCEC Project Funding. The purpose of this project was to raise awareness of MFT in Guyana and Suriname with a view to enhance the MFT ecosystem in these two countries through a training program, which was organized to raise awareness about the standards and guidelines of MFT with the participation of 63 trainees from Guyana and Suriname.

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Single Window and Trade Facilitation

The 13th Meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on March 7, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Facilitating Trade: Enhancing Public Availability of Customs Information in the OIC Countries.” A comprehensive research report on the theme of the meeting has been prepared for enriching the discussions during the Meeting. Within the framework of the report submitted to the meeting, field visits were conducted to three OIC member countries namely Bangladesh, Morocco and Senegal to get insights about the policy environment on the subject. As the outcome of the Meeting, the Trade Working

Group has come up with some significant policy recommendations to be submitted to the 35th COMCEC Ministerial Session.

Moreover, the 14th Meeting of the Trade Working Group was held on October 24th, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Improving Customs Transit Systems in the OIC Countries.” The research report prepared on the subject of the Meeting was submitted to the Meeting for enriching the discussions. The report contains two field visit case studies, namely Kyrgyz Republic and Senegal. In addition, “COMCEC Trade Outlook 2019” has been prepared for exploring the global trends and current situation in trade area in the OIC Member Countries. The Policy Recommendations formulated by the Working Group will be submitted to the 35th COMCEC Ministerial Session.

Tourism Development

13th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on February 13th, 2019, in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Sustainable Destination Management Strategies in the OIC Member Countries”. The research report prepared in this subject includes three field visits, namely Maldives, Oman and Uganda. The policy recommendations formulated by the Working Group will be submitted to the 35th COMCEC Ministerial Session to be held in November 2019.

14th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group was held on October 31st, 2019 in Ankara, Turkey with the theme of “Developing Multi-Destination Tourism Corridors in the OIC Member Countries”. The research report prepared in this subject includes field visits, namely Silk Roads Tourism Corridors (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan) as the OIC Member Countries’ practices and Danube Tourism Corridors (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, and Moldova) as non-OIC examples. The Policy Recommendations formulated by the technical experts will be submitted to the COMCEC Ministerial Session.

Regarding the COMCEC Funded Projects for the realization of the COMCEC Policy Recommendations in tourism area, two projects (in addition to the MFT projects reflected in the Halal Industry Development section) were implemented within the context of the COMCEC Project Funding in 2019.

The first project titled “Destination Management Organization: Conceptual Framework for Azerbaijan, Cameroon, and Iran” was implemented by Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency. The project aimed at developing a conceptual destination management organization framework for Azerbaijan, Cameroon and Iran. A research report was produced as the main output of the project and the findings of the field visits conducted within the project were reflected to the said report.

Lastly, the project titled “Capacity Building on Destination Management Organizations of OIC Member Countries” was implemented by Mali with the partnership of Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea,

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Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. The project aimed at equipping the relevant actors in charge of the

management and tourism promotion of eight West African countries with destination management skills by conducting a training program. The training program on destination management organizations was held in the province of Bamako with 22 participants from the beneficiary countries.

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ICD

ICD Progress Report on

Private Sector and SMEs Development - 2019

Prepared for

FIFTH SESSION OF ANNUAL COORDINATION MEETING OF OIC INSTITUTIONS (ACMOI)

Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 4-5 December 2019

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1. INTRODUCTION

The private sector is recognized as a critical partner in economic development, a provider of income, jobs, and goods and services to enhance people’s lives and to help them escape poverty. The private sector is responsible for around 90 percent of employment in the developing world—including both formal and informal jobs—it provides critical goods and services; it is the source of most tax revenues; and is key to ensuring the efficient flow of capital. The public and private sectors can be most effective when they work together, and the former is the most critical in creating a healthy environment for investment and business activity.

Among private sector actors, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) play a leading role in creating employment, income, value addition, and in providing the seedbed for developing and testing entrepreneurial talent. In recent decades, the role of SMEs in economic development has steadily increased which is manifesting itself in employment figures. For example, over 2003-16, across 132 countries, the number of total full-time employees in SMEs has almost doubled, from 79 million to 156 million. Going forward, SMEs are expected to play even more significant role in addressing the need for creating 600 million jobs around the world by 2030 to keep up with the growth of the labor force. The comparatively high share of SMEs in employment shows that they will play a major role in income generation for broad – and above all often less privileged – sections of the population.

According to the recent studies, the SMEs are the predominant form of enterprises, accounting for almost 99% of all firms, and about 70% of jobs in advanced economies. In high income countries, they also contribute largely to GDP, generating between 50%-60% of value added on average. SMEs tend to also act as a driving force behind the radical innovations and digital transformation of many advanced nations. For example, they account for about the one-fifth of patents in biotechnology-related field in Europe.

In emerging economies, SMEs are responsible about half of total employment and create around the one-third of GDP. Although their respective role in developing countries is relatively marginal (about the one-third of both GDP and employment), SMEs contribute to more than half of employment and GDP in most countries, when taking the contribution of informal businesses into account.

In an effort to enlarge its scope of activities, IsDB established its private sector arm, ICD, in 1999 to take over the activities related to the private sector. Currently, ICD has an authorized capital of US$ 4 billion and its shareholders feature 54 OIC member states and 5 public financial institutions. Since inception, ICD has provided multiple modes of financing and services to finance investment projects, improved investment climate, and has promoted cross-border investments among its member countries.

ICD plays an important role in supporting the SMEs; particularly in developing countries. Among others, the Corporation provides critical capital, knowledge, and partnership for private sector in general and SMEs in particular. ICD also supports the kind of entrepreneurial initiatives that help developing countries achieve sustainable economic growth. This role is becoming increasingly important for development institutions, in addition to their traditional aid and public sector financing.

Thanks to nineteenth years record of accomplishment of strong developmental and operational footprint, ICD keeps bringing innovative private sector solutions and serve as a bridge between private investment and sustainable development in its 54 member countries. Since its inception in 1999, the ICD has approved more than 400 projects, valued at more than $6.3 billion. ICD approvals support a wide array of industries including finance, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and oil and gas. ICD

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investment operations are at work in 51 member countries. ICD has disbursed around $3.2 billion since inception.

2. PROFILE ANALYSIS OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN OIC MEMBER COUNTRIES

Table 1 below draws a profile comparison between the average firms in OIC MCs versus the rest of the world. The tables also summarizes the cross-regional assessment of characteristics of firm in four different regions of OIC. According to the table, the average firm in OIC MCs is younger, smaller, less private-domestically owned and more male-owned than global average.

Table 1: Private Sector Firms’ Profiles

World All OIC MENA SSA Asia ECA

Age 19.1 18.1 19.5 16.5 20.5 14.6

Size

Small 44.8% 51.0% 49.3% 62.9% 38.4% 47.5%

Medium 35.3% 32.5% 33.2% 28.1% 35.8% 35.9%

Large 19.9% 16.4% 17.5% 9.0% 25.8% 16.6%

Sector of operation

Manufacturing 55.0% 55.1% 58.8% 42.0% 73.3% 50.6%

Services 45.0% 44.9% 41.2% 58.0% 26.7% 49.4%

Ownership structure

Domestic private ownership 90.1% 86.9% 93.3% 75.0% 91.3% 93.5%

Foreign ownership 8.0% 6.5% 5.6% 10.5% 3.6% 3.9%

State ownership 2.0% 6.6% 1.1% 14.6% 5.1% 2.7%

Share of direct exporting in total

sale6.6% 8.0% 9.4% 5.2% 10.5% 7.7%

Share of female owned firms 11.9% 7.2% 3.2% 11.1% 6.8% 7.1%

Source: Enterprise Surveys and ICD staff calculation

However, there is a lack of synchrony across the regions of the OIC operation. For example, average firm in Asia region has higher age, larger size, more manufacture-oriented as well as export-driven profile, while a typical firm in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) presents younger, much smaller, more service-sector oriented and domiciled profile. Only the profile of an average firm in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) mirrors the global averages, except for very small share of female-owned firms.

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3. ISSUES / CHALLENGES FACING THE SMES IN OIC MEMBER COUNTRIES

While SMEs have high level of socio-economic development implications, there is a lack of support mechanisms and channels that would facilitate the growth of existing SMEs, as well as the establishment of new ones. SMEs across the world—especially in developing countries—are facing challenges that are, to a large extent, similar in nature and include limited access to finance, high transaction costs, the lack of skilled human resources, unfavorable legal and regulatory environments, limited access to technology, and inadequate access to markets.

According to the most recent internal diagnostics study conducted for OIC Member Countries, the top five factors playing as binding constraints for private sector in general and SMEs in particular are those related to access to finance, political instability, access to electricity, existence of informal sector, tax rates etc. (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Top Challenges for Enterprises in OIC Member Countries

Source: Enterprise Surveys and ICD staff calculation

If we examine the above at the regional levels, the similar results hold while there are some differences among regions of OIC (Figure 2). “Political Instability” is the most relevant difficulty faced by firms in MENA region. Almost 40 percent of firms in MENA region perceive that “Political Instability” is the top obstacle for their operations. OIC MCs in Asia also identify it as the top difficulty in the second tier after “Electricity” which is also top tier in SSA region. Eighteen percent of the firms in EECA region responded that their top impediment for business operations are “Tax Rates” and “Competitors in Informal Sector”, that is perceived by the top hurdle by the 11 percent of the firms in SSA region also. “Access to Finance” is always in the top three-tier in every region.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

1-Access To Finance

2-Access To Land

3-Business Licensing And Permits

4-Corruption

5-Courts

6-Crime, Theft And Disorder

7-Customs And Trade Regulations

8-Electricity

9-Inadequately Educated Workforce

10-Labor Regulations

11-Political Instability

12-Practices Of Competitors In The Info

13-Tax Administration

14-Tax Rates

15-Transport

large

medium

small

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Figure 2: Top Challenges for SMEs in OIC Regions

Source: Enterprise Survey and ICD staff calculation

4. ICD’S INTEGRATED APPROACH TO SUPPORT PRIVATE SECTOR AND SMES

DEVELOPMENT

ICD continues to help member countries meet ambitious development goals by using an integrated approach that seeks to remove barriers to progress, particularly in tough environments and circumstances. An integrated approach refers to innovative, tailored, and efficient solutions, by which ICD offers context-specific interventions tailored to specific societal needs. This approach is designed to foster efficient ways to provide the private sector with opportunities to thrive in communities facing difficult situations, where support is most needed. Moreover, this integrated approach strives to promote inclusive and sustainable private-sector development. ICD reinforces this goal by establishing strong partnerships with many other players, including governments, private-sector firms, international financial institutions (IFIs), institutional investors and sister institutions (affiliates) of the OIC.

Infrastructure25%

Finance20%Informal

economy11%

Tax rates9%

Corruption

8%

Other 1027%

a. Sub-Saharan Africa

Infrastructure25%

Finance8%

Political instabilit

y18%

Informal economy

12%

Corruption8%

Other 1029%

b. Asia

Infrastructure13%

Finance11%


y39%

Informal economy

6%

Corruption6%

Other 1025%

c. Middle East & North Africa

Infrastructure13%

Finance13%


y10%Informal

economy18%

Tax rates18%

Other 1028%

d. Eeastern Europe & Central Asia

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Figure 3: Integrated Approach to Support Private Sector and SMEs Development

4.1. FINANCING SMES THROUGH LOCAL INTERMEDIARIES

In many of OIC member countries, local financial systems do not sufficiently cater to the needs of the

private sector, particularly those of SMEs. This lack of capital has negative consequences for social and economic development. SMEs are often referred to as “the missing middle,” a term that suggests their predicament of being considered too big to garner support from microfinance institutions, and too small and risky to gain support from traditional financiers. Therefore, ICD keeps playing an important role in catalyzing private-sector and SME financing markets in its member countries.

As an international finance institution, ICD assured affordability and adequacy of funding by working through local financial intermediaries (“channels”). With this “channel” (or “wholesale”) approach ICD stimulated the creation of local financial markets. The corporation applied strict funding and Shari’ah standards, thoughtfully selected and screened financial channels, and sensibly calibrated controls and incentives.

During 2018, the Corporation continued to extend credit (lines of finance) to its new partner institutions, and to work closely with existing Islamic banks, Ijara, and investment companies (which serve as key channels for our work). In 2018, ICD approved extending 15 lines of finance with a gross value of $419 million. The approvals encompassed projects spanning the countries such as Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Mali, Côte I’voire, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. In addition, one regional project, namely for West and Central Africa, was approved. The line of finance projects represented the largest category of 2018 approvals and disbursement, representing 87 percent and 75 percent respectively.

Catalyzing the SMEs Financing in Difficult

Enviroments

Directly Supporting

the Real Sector

Financing SMEs via Local Intermediaries

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4.2. DIRECTLY SUPPORTING THE CORPORATE SECTOR

Across the spectrum of size, private sector firms struggle to obtain funding needed to succeed. A “one size fits all” approach does not serve emerging needs of business in today’s dynamic economies. Thus, ICD specifically tailors its interventions to reach those businesses that are struggling to find the financial instruments that enable them to innovate and grow. ICD therefore complement the channel (or wholesale)

strategy with direct support to private-sector agents, particularly medium and large firms, to address their most critical and immediate needs. ICD assists them in ways that can lead to enhanced productivity, scaling-up opportunities, better integration with global value chains, and beneficial spill-overs of technology and know-how.

Moreover, in the markets in which ICD operates, investing in critical infrastructure is pivotal to unlocking economic growth and supporting productive capacities of the private sector as a whole, and of SMEs, in particular. Because the infrastructure-financing gap of OIC member countries is immense1, ICD’s strategy is to leverage a large network of investors and partners to scale up our interventions.

During 2018, ICD direct interventions in the corporate sector represented transactions valued at $55 million, allocated exclusively to Bangladesh ($45 million) and Tajikistan ($10 million). In terms of disbursements, ICD has processed $71.62 million. In 2018, short-to-medium term finance facilities extended to corporate clients made up the largest share of total approvals of $30 million, representing 55 percent of direct interventions, while project finance facilities were extended to greenfield infrastructure projects, totaling $25 million representing the remaining 45 percent. In terms of the industry sectors, the power and energy sector received the highest allocations, totaling $25 million. Industry and mining received $20 million in approvals, and healthcare received $10 million.

4.3. CATALYZING SME FINANCING IN DIFFICULT ENVIRONMENTS

Barriers to development are increasingly concentrated and particularly severe in many parts of the world that are especially hard to reach due to isolated geography, or to the presence of conflict. Against this backdrop, ICD utilizes different ways and means to extend the private sector’s reach in creating jobs, reducing poverty, and increasing living standards in the most difficult geographies and settings. ICD works to build strong institutional capacities in Islamic finance that will cement future opportunities to catalyze and channel new investments and expertise into these high-need areas.

A broad consensus recognizes that SMEs’ contribution is not limited to economic development; increasingly, SMEs are also seen as providing a means to build social cohesion, reduce income inequalities, foster resilience, empower marginalized groups, and restore community security. SMEs are believed to be more agile and dynamic in adapting to volatile circumstances than larger corporations. At the same time, however, SMEs are considered to be more sensitive to instabilities, and, in the face of difficult business conditions, SMEs are thought to suffer much more than their larger counterparts. Hence, ICD employs strong advisory strategies to assist SMEs with running their businesses in areas affected by challenging conditions of many kinds, such as socio-political instability, high unemployment, unattractive market conditions, and severe natural disasters.

1 The infrastructure funding gap for the 57 OIC member countries is estimated to be in the range of approximately $93 billion per year.

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Throughout 2018, ICD’s Islamic Finance Institutions (IFIs) Program established mandates designed to

pave the way to strengthen future partnerships, and to add depth to the Islamic finance industry in tough markets and circumstances. Since its beginnings in 2012, the program has been instrumental in implementing mandates for over 40 financial institutions across 26 member countries in diverse regions and in hard-to-reach locations. Momentum continued in 2018, with the signing of four new mandates.

ICD also continued to tailor its Industry and Business Environment Support Program (IBES) to a wider segment of potential beneficiaries. Refining the programs in this way enabled ICD to play an instrumental role in helping many of the most challenging regions, as evidenced by its expending reach into fragile and conflict-affected areas of Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2018, ICD initiated two new mandates within the framework of IBES program.

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ICDT

REPORT ON

THE TRADE FACILITATION AND SINGLE WINDOW

MODALITY IN THE OIC MEMBER STATES

DOCUMENT SUBMITTED BY

THE ISLAMIC CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT

OF TRADE

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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:

Within the framework of the follow-up of the implementation of the ACMOI and TISC resolutions, the Islamic Center for Development of Trade (ICDT) and PORTNET S.A., - National Single Window of Foreign Trade Procedures of the Kingdom of Morocco, agreed to cooperate in the development of practical tools aimed at facilitating the implementation of the Single Window system in the OIC Member States.

The mission consists in setting up all the necessary preconditions for the deployment of the Single Window, particularly through a Practical guide containing: the operating framework, the objectives, the service offer (including the creation of a reception, information and guidance

service and the tools relating to the Single Window).

The mission also includes the training of the future Single Window operators on the personalized approach and the personalization of the service to be provided, as well as on the implementation of the Single Window service offering and the use of its tools.

It is therefore necessary to revitalize all countries that have not yet set up a Single Window system around a common project in order to help them to operationalize its implementation.

For this purpose, ICDT and PORTNET S.A will join their efforts to prepare an analysis report

on the progress of the deployment of the Single Window in the OIC Member States, highlighting the analysis of each country's feedback and the classification of experiences according to their level of maturity.

As a result of this analysis, a summary document will be presented detailing the points below:

Mapping of states according to the maturity of the deployment of the Single Window; Constraints encountered; Recommendations and areas for improvement in order to advance the work on the

implementation of the Single Windows.

Once the diagnosis has been established, training will be provided to the Single Window operators, which will be based on the following points:

1. Presentation of the benchmark; 2. Presentation of the study and analysis conducted;

3. Discuss the experiences of the countries participating in the training; 4. Simulation of a practical case.

The preliminary outcomes of the study are scheduled to be represented to the workshop

on “Operationalization of Single Window and implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement in Arab Countries” which will be organized by ICDT in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 16-18 April 2017.

1. Workshop on “The Operationalization of the Single Window and the Implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in the Arab Countries” 16-17 April 2017- Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Context:

Within the framework of facilitating trade among the OIC Member Countries and accelerating the achievement of the target consisting of the increase to 25% the share of the intra-OIC Trade by 2025 as recommended in the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action (TYPOA) adopted by the 13th OIC Summit,

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held in Istanbul in April 2016 and following the outcomes of the 2nd Annual Coordination Meeting of the OIC Institutions (ACMOI) held in Jeddah in December 2016 and the 2nd Trade and Investment Sub-Committee (TISC) held on March 6th, 2017 relating to the implementation of the OIC Single Window, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Department of Resource Mobilization and Cooperation (DRMC) of the Islamic Development Bank organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Economy of the State of United Arab Emirates, a Workshop on the operationalization of Single windows and the implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement in the Arab countries in Dubai, UAE, on 16-17 April 2017.

Objectives:

The objectives of this workshop are to sensitize Member Countries on the importance of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and its implications for, since the full implementation of the OIC Member States TFA will facilitate cross-border operations and reduce trade cost. On the other hand, the objective is to share experiences at national and regional levels on trade facilitation in Arab Region.

This workshop was devoted to present the guidelines for the implementation of national single window, to study the Feasibility of the OIC Single Window and to inform about the recent developments of the Trade Preferential System of the OIC Countries and their role in faciliting Intra-OIC Trade.

Participants:

The following countries attended this workshop: Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and United Arab Emirates.

Experts from national and regional and international Institutions also participated: ICDT, DRMC/ISDB, PortNet (Morocco) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA).

Proceedings of the Workshop:

After reading Verses of the Holy Qur'an, the representative of the Minister of Economy of the State of

the United Arab Emirates, the Director General of ICDT and the Representative of the ISDB Group took

the floor to thank the Government of the State of UAE and participants. They highlighted the

importance of the implementation of WTO TFA and the operationalisation of the OIC Single Window

in enhancing Intra-OIC trade. They also emphasize the commitment of the OIC Institutions to work

together under the TISC framework to facilitate the implementation of the National Single Window

and the interoperability of OIC SW in collaboration with some advanced SW such us Dubai Trade,

ASEAN SW, PortNet, GUCE Cameroon and Gainde2000 of Senegal… etc.

Axes of the Workshop:

The experts presented the following themes: 1st Session: Presentation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)

- Presentation of the TFA - Trade Facilitation in the OIC Member States

2nd Session: Impact of TFA Implementation in Arab Countries and Technical Assistance - Implementation of TFA and its impact on Arab Countries. - Implementation of TFA in ESCWA Countries

3rd Session: Recent Developments of the Trade Preferential System of the OIC Countries 4th Session: Operationalization of the Single Window in the OIC Countries

- Presentation of a “guidelines for the implementation of a national and regional single window”.

- Feasibility of the OIC Single Window: Current State and the way forward General Debate: Strategies for Implementing a Regional Window in the OIC Countries

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Way forward:

After a fruitful discussion, participants proposed the following recommendations:

To establish an OIC Alliance for Single Window under the Secretariat of ICDT in order sharing best practices on SW in collaboration with OIC Trade and Investment Sub-Committee (TISC) Members and interested Member States;

To prepare to the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) of TPS/OIC to create a working group for the coordination among Customs Administrations in the implementation of PRETAS and Rules of Origin Protocols by using the Electronic Data Exchange;

To implement a Project Pilot of exchanging Certificate of Origin and etc within the TNC Working Group;

To carry on organising workshops for French and English-Speaking countries and submitting the guidelines of the OIC SW for their views and comments;

To encourage some Member States to create their national SW in order to facilitate intra-OIC Trade;

To elaborate a progress report on the OIC SW Facility and submit it to the upcoming OIC Institutional and TISC Meetings.

2. The 4th Edition of the Annual Conference of Single Window PortNet: Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, 12-13 November 2018

Within the framework of its collaboration with PORTNET S.A, the ICDT has actively participated in the 4th edition of the Annual Conference of Single Window PortNet. Organized at the joint initiative of the National Ports Agency (ANP) and PORTNET SA, under the aegis of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water and in partnership with the

United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) and the International Port Community Systems Association (IPCSA), the conference was held on 12 and 13 November 2018 at the Grand Mogador City Center, in Casablanca, under the theme: “The Single Window: Public and Private Community Intelligence serving your integrated,

efficient and innovative supply chain”.

The organization of this edition took place in the context of national competitiveness in the global market which is increasingly dependent on the ability of states to innovate and use appropriate technologies in all productive sectors. This ability to innovate is often based on the

appropriation of new global technology trends, or the result of a local effort in research and development. In the field of international supply chain, innovation through the implementation of real community single windows has allowed many countries to make

significant qualitative breakthroughs in improving their competitiveness and business environments.

3. Guide on OIC Single Windows:

ICDT has published a Guide on the establishment of Single Windows in OIC Member States in the 3 OIC languages since 2017.

To download the Guide please use the following link: http://icdt-oic.org/ICDT_Page.aspx?Id_Page=1054

(menu/ICDT’s Project/guide for Operationalization)

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NOTE ON

THE TRADE PREFERENTIAL SYSTEM AMONG THE MEMBER STATES OF THE

ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION

DOCUMENT SUBMITTED BY


OF TRADE

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THE TRADE PREFERENTIAL SYSTEM AMONG THE MEMBER STATES OF THE

ORGANISATION OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION

I- ENFORCEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT:

The TPS/OIC agreement was deposited in 1990 in the OIC General Secretariat for signature and ratification, in compliance with article 18; it will enter into force three months after ten Member States have deposited their instruments of ratification.

In November 2017, forty Two Member States have signed the framework Agreement TPS/OIC: Kingdom of Bahrain, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Benin, Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Republic of Cameroon, Republic of Chad, Union of the Comoros, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, Republic of

Gabon, Republic of The Gambia, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Guinea Bissau, Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Iraq, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, State of Kuwait, Republic of Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Republic of Maldives, Islamic Republic of

Mauritania, Kingdom of Morocco, Republic of Niger, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sultanate of Oman, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, State of Palestine, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of Senegal, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Somalia, Republic of Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Uganda and State

of United Arab Emirates.

Thirty Two Member States have ratified it: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, People's Republic of Bangladesh, Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam, Cameroon, Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, State of the United Arab Emirates, Republic of Gabon,

Republic of the Gambia, Republic of Guinea, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Kuwait, Republic of Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Oman, Republic of Uganda, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, State of Palestine, State of Qatar, Republic of Senegal, Republic of

Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic, Republic of Tunisia and the Republic of Turkey.

The legal quorum (10 states) required for the entry into force of the Framework Agreement on Trade Preferences among Islamic Countries has therefore been exceeded recently, following the ratification of the Republic of Cameroon in September 2002.

18 Member States of the OIC have ratified the Protocol on Preferential Tariff Scheme for TPS-OIC (PRETAS), these are: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, People's Republic of Bangladesh, State of the United Arab Emirates, Republic of The Gambia, State of Kuwait, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Kingdom of Morocco, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Sultanate Oman, State of Palestine, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, State of Qatar, Republic of Somalia, Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of

Turkey.

The PRETAS became effective on 5 February 2010.

32 countries have signed the Rules of Origin of the TPS/OIC, namely Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, United Arab Emirates, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia,

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Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Somalia,

Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey. In addition, 18 countries have ratified: Bahrain, Bangladesh, UAE, Gambia, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Syria and Turkey. The Rules of Origin came into force on 9th

August 2011.

To date, the following 14 OIC Member States: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Malaysia, Syria, Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan and Jordan have sent to the TNC Secretariat the List of Products for tariff concessions under the TPS/OIC.

Besides, during the seminar on the rules of origin of the TPS/OIC Agreement organized by the COMCEC Office and Turkey's TOBB in January 2015 in Ankara, it was recommended to the

participating countries to update their products’ list of concession into an Harmonized System with 8 digits, 2015 Version in order to facilitate the launching of a new round of trade negotiations among the OIC Member Countries.

In order to make the TPS-OIC system operational, 10 Member States have to fulfill two conditions at the same time, namely the ratification of the three TPS-OIC Agreements and the submission of the list of concessions to the TNC Secretariat. As of December 2014, the required number of countries having met the necessary requirements of the System has been reached.

However, for the System to enter into force, there are a few practical steps that should be taken by the participating member states. The most important step in this context is the updating of the concession lists. By September 2018, Turkey, Malaysia, Pakistan, Jordan, Bangladesh, Iran and Morocco have submitted their updated concession lists. On the other hand, for successful

implementation of the System, the Member Countries are required to undertake some internal measures, such as: printing the TPS-OIC Certificate of Origin documents, conveying specimen impressions of stamps to the Trade Negotiating Committee Secretariat and completing the necessary internal legislative and administrative measures. After the completion of these

measures, the System would become fully operational. In this regard, the 33rd COMCEC Ministerial Session called upon the Member States which have not yet signed or ratified TPS-OIC Agreements, namely the Framework Agreement, PRETAS and Rules of Origin, to do so at

their earliest convenience and invited the concerned participating Member Countries to convey their updated concession lists at their earliest convenience to the TNC Secretariat with a view to operationalize the TPS-OIC.

The Committee requested the ICDT, COMCEC Coordination Office, and other relevant OIC Institutions to continue organizing awareness raising and capacity building activities with regard to TPS-OIC.

II- ICDT’S ROLE AS MEMBER OF THE TNC SECRETARIAT:

The 19th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation has entrusted to ICDT and the COMCEC coordination Office the Secretariat of the Trade Negotiating committee.

Within this framework, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade provides to Member

States technical assistance under the form of training sessions intended for the executive staff operating in the field of foreign trade or by submitting explanatory notes on the framework

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Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States and on the Protocol

on the Preferential Tariff Scheme for TPS/OIC (PRETAS) and the protocol on the Rules of Origin.

The Islamic Centre for Development of Trade provides comprehensive explanatory notes related to issues debated within the framework of negotiations on the Trade Preferential System (TPS/OIC), the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme (PRETAS and the Protocol on the Rules of Origin.

In this regard, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade has recently prepared explanatory

notes on “the Framework Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States, the PRETAS Protocol, intended for the Countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and Indonesia.

Upon the successful conclusion of the 1st and 2nd Rounds, the Trade Negotiating Committee

will carry on its work that will focus on two main actions: on the one hand, the implementation of the PRETAS, notably by applying the fast track and the consideration of issue relating to the removal of para- and non-tariff measures on the other.

Within the framework of the operationalization of the TPS/OIC Agreement and its protocols, ICDT sent circular letters to participating Member States in March, April and May 2015 relating to checklist of the implementation process of the Rules Origin, the conversion of tariff lines from 2003 to 2015 version of applied tariffs with a view to facilitating trade negotiations

between these countries. The deadline for the submission of this information was 1st March, 2016 as recommended by the Resolution 29 of the 31st Ministerial Session of the COMCEC held in November 2015 in Istanbul.

Training Workshop on "Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organisation (TPS/ OIC) ", Jakarta, Republic of Indonesia, 13-14 September 2017.

Within the framework of the implementation of the 32nd Session of the COMCEC resolution relating to TPS-OIC and other relevant Resolutions of the Ministers of Foreign Trade of the OIC Countries, particularly those relating to the raising awareness of the Framework Agreement on

Trade Preferential System among OIC Member States (TPS/OIC) and its protocols, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade and the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO) organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, a training Workshop on Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic

Cooperation (TPS – OIC) in Jakarta on 13 – 14 September 2017.

The workshop aimed at raising the awareness of Indonesia’s, Brunei and Malaysia officials and business stakeholders of the TPS-OIC implementation and its benefits. It also provided an interactive discussion that helps participants to address some of the issues and challenges faced

by the Indonesian government in completing the ratification process of the TPS-OIC.

More than 80 Participants from Indonesia (Public and Private Sector), Malaysia, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Kuwait, Bangladesh, Qatar, Iran and also COMCEC Coordination Office and

ICDT attend this workshop.

After the statements of the representatives of the Ministry of Trade of Indonesia, the President’s Special Envoy to The Middle East and to The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation/ OIC, COMCEC Coordination Office and ICDT, the workshop was briefly presented to participants.

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ICDT’s, COMCEC’s and Ministry of Trade of Indonesia made presentations on the following

topics: Presentation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action (2016-2025) of the Organization of Islamic

Cooperation and ICDT for enhancing intra-OIC trade; Presentation on the Trade Cooperation and TPS-OIC in the COMCEC Strategy; Presentation on the Current Status of the TPS-OIC: Basic Features of the System and the Way

Forward; Presentation of the Framework Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among the OIC

Member States (TPS/OIC); Provisions of the TPS/OIC; Structures and the negotiations methods; TPS/OIC and the WTO provisions and RTAs; Presentation of the outcomes of the First Round of Trade Negotiations; Presentation on the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme For TPS-OIC (PRETAS); General Discussion on speeding up the signature and ratification of the TPS/OIC and its protocols

by Indonesia.

Certificates of participation were distributed to all participants.

All participants mentioned the importance of the workshop which allow them to understand TPS/OIC and its protocols and its role to enhancing intra-OIC Trade with Indonesia and its

private sector.

The Indonesian Government ensured that it will follow this issue and finalize the ratification of the Rules of Origin after having internal discussion on some issues such as: The Application of MFN Principle to non-WTO members that participate in the OIC Preferential

Tariff Scheme ; The provisions of article 5 and 6 of the Protocol of the Rules of Origin concerning the aggregate

content originating in least developed Participating State that is not less than 30% of its ex-works price. Indonesia has particular concern as it grants regional value content of not less than 40% for LDCs in ASEAN, as opposed to giving 30% LVC commitment to OIC LDCs ;

The Provisions of Article 22 of the Protocol of the Rules of Origin concerning Importation by Instalment, as the customs procedure in Indonesia does not recognize such rule. Moreover, it would be difficult for Indonesia, as archipelagic state to control Importation by Instalment in all ports which spread across the archipelago.

ICDT Sent an official letter after the workshop to explain all these issues.

Training Workshop on "Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organisation (TPS/ OIC) and Multilateral Trading System ", Khartoum, Republic of Sudan, 17-18 December 2018.

Within the framework of the implementation of the 33rd Session of the COMCEC held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey on 23-26 November 2017 resolution relating to TPS-OIC and other relevant Resolutions of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, particularly those relating to the raising awareness of the Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System among OIC Member States (TPS/OIC) and its protocols, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade

(ICDT), the COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO) and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Republic of Sudan, a training Workshop on the “Trade Preferential System among the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (TPS – OIC) and Multilateral Trading System”, in Khartoum, Republic of Sudan on 17–18 December 2018.

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The workshop aimed at raising the awareness of Sudan officials and business stakeholders of

the TPS-OIC implementation and its benefits. It also provided an interactive discussion that helps participants to address some of the issues and challenges faced by the Sudanese government in completing the ratification process of the TPS-OIC and its protocols (PRETAS

and Rules of Origin (ROO)).

More than 60 Participants from Sudan Public and Private Sector, senior officials from several ministries attended this event, such as Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Animal Resources,

Ministry of Minerals, Ministry of Justice, Sudanese Standards Organization, Customs Authority, Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Sea Port Corporation, Federation of Chambers of Industry, National Secretariat WTO in Sudan, National Agency for Export Insurance and Finance, Marine Ports Authority, Customs Clearance Agents Association and

also COMCEC Coordination Office, ICCIA and ICDT attended this workshop.

After the opening ceremony, ICDT, COMCEC, ICCIA and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of Sudan made presentations on the following topics:

Presentation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action (2016-2025) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for enhancing intra-OIC trade;

Presentation on the Trade Cooperation and TPS-OIC in the COMCEC Strategy; Presentation on the Current Status of the TPS-OIC: Basic Features of the System and the Way

Forward; Presentation of the Framework Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among the OIC

Member States (TPS/OIC); Provisions of the TPS/OIC; Structures and the negotiations methods; Presentation of the outcomes of the First Round of Trade Negotiations; Presentation on the Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme For TPS-OIC (PRETAS); Presentation on the Protocol of the Rules of Origin of the TPS/OIC; Economic integration, Legal impact of the TPS the WTO provisions and RTAs /OIC; Impact of the TPS/OIC on Sudan Foreign Trade; Presentation of the procedures of the accession of Sudan to the TPS/OIC Agreement and WTO; Membership procedures to TPS/OIC and technical instruments; Technical assistance of ICDT and ISDB in the operationalization of the TPS/OIC Agreement and

WTO Issues.

All participants mentioned the importance of the workshop which allow them to understand TPS/OIC and its protocols and its role to enhancing intra-OIC Trade of Sudan.

After fruitful interactive debate, participants agreed on the following: - To expedite the ratification formalities of TPS/OIC and call upon the concerned authority in the

Ministry of Industry and Trade to urgently undertake the necessary steps to complete the needful

for obtaining the consent of the Cabinet and the approval of the Parliament as soon as possible;

- To provide Sudan stakeholders technical assistance on TPS/OIC in finalizing the ratification of

the Agreement and its protocols and the technical methods to select the list of Concessions of

Sudan;

- To call upon the Republic of Sudan to continue to benefit from the instruments of the COMCEC

Strategy, the COMCEC Working Groups and COMCEC Project Funding;

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- To encourage the Ministry of Trade and Industry to participate in the activities organized by

COMCEC, ICDT, ICCIA and ISDB Group in the field of trade facilitations activities;

- To organize other workshops and events in the trade facilitation and trade promotion in Sudan;

- To hold workshops on Sudan Accession to WTO and TPS/OIC;

- To involve private sector in the process of the preparation of concession positive list to be

submitted to TNC;

- To request Sudanese Customs Authority to convey to COMCEC and ICDT, relevant documents

including latest statistics and figures on Sudan Tariff lines less than 10% in order to facilitate the

selection of updated concession list to be submitted to TNC.

At the end of the Workshop, certificates of participation were distributed to all participants.

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LIST OF THE MEMBERS STATES WHICH HAVE SIGNED AND RATIFIED THE AGREEMENTS UNDER THE

AUSPICES OF ICDT AND COMCEC (As of November 2018)

AGREEMENTS TPS/OIC PRETAS RULES OF ORIGIN Documents submitted of list of concessionsCOUNTRIES Signed Ratified Signed Ratified Signed Ratified

Bahrain * * * * * * *

Bangladesh * * * * * * *

Benin * * *

Brunei * *

Burkina Faso * * *

Cameroon * * * *

Chad *

Comoros * * *

Côte d’Ivoire * * *

Djibouti * * * *

Egypt * * *

Gabon * *

The Gambia * * * * * *

Guinea * * * *

Guinea Bissau * * *

Indonesia * * * *

Iran * * * * * * *

Iraq * *

Jordan * * * * * * *

Kuwait * * * * * * *

Lebanon * *

Libya * *

Malaysia * * * * * * *

Maldives * *

Mauritania * * * * * *

Morocco * * * * * * *

Niger * * *

Nigeria * * *

Oman * * * * * * *

Pakistan * * * * * * *

Palestine * * * * * *

Qatar * * * * * * *

Saudi Arabia * * * * * * *

Senegal * *

Sierra Leone * * *

Somalia * * * * * *

Sudan * * *

Syria * * * * * * *

Tunisia * * * *

Turkey * * * * * * *

U.A.E * * * * * * *

Uganda * *

TOTAL 42 32 33 18 32 18 14

Source: COMCEC, OIC GS, ICDT.

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REPORT ON

THE ISSUES RELATING TO THE ACTIVITIESOF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION

SUBMITTED BY


OF TRADE

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THE ICDT ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD OF WTO ISSUES

ICDT carried out several activities to serve OIC Member States’ economic interests with regard to WTO

issues. In implementation of COMCEC “WTO – related resolutions”, in particular the Resolution of the

Thirty-Third Session of the COMCEC held during the period 20 – 23 November 2017 in Istanbul which

has requested ICDT and ISDB to “submit a Working Paper for the consideration of the next COMCEC

meeting about Practical Options to increase OIC Ministers of Trade Coordination vis-à-vis recent

developments in the negotiations at the WTO and to formulate positions on priority issues for OIC

countries currently being proposed in the WTO”, the ICDT and ISDB prepared a study which was

submitted to the relevant stakeholders and OIC experts for their feedback, remarks and comments.

About fifteen countries have completed the questionnaire. The Final version of the Working Paper was

presented to the OIC mission based in Geneva on 14th October 2018 and will be submitted to the Thirty-

Fourth Session of the COMCEC.

Within the framework of the implementation of COMCEC resolutions on WTO issues, ICDT organized

also several seminars for the benefit of the OIC Member States, in partnership with ISDB Group, WTO,

UNCTAD, ITC and WCO, in order to increase OIC Member States’ awareness and to develop their

capacities in different international trade fields regulated by WTO agreements.

1. Workshop on the Mechanisms for settlement of Trade and Investment Disputes among the OIC Member States, 20-21 February 2017, Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco:

Within the framework of the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the OIC organs and technical

assistance to Member States in the development of trade, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade

(ICDT) organized in collaboration with the International Islamic Center for Reconciliation and

Arbitration (IICRA), a workshop on “the Mechanisms for Settlement of Trade and Investment

Disputes among the OIC Member States" on 20th and 21st February 2017 in Casablanca - Kingdom of

Morocco.

Objective:

This workshop aimed to develop cooperation and coordination among the OIC Member States on

reconciliation and arbitration mechanisms for the settlement of trade and investment disputes, with an

emphasis on the operationalization of provisions for settlement of disputes relating to the relevant

agreements of the OIC, including:

Agreement on Promotion, Protection and Guarantee of Investments among the OIC Member States;

The General Agreement on Economic, Technical and Commercial Cooperation among the OIC Member States;

The Framework Agreement on Trade Preferential System among the OIC Member States; Protocol on the Preferential Tariff Scheme for TPS-OIC (PRETAS); The TPS-OIC Protocol on Rules of Origin.

Participants:

The following countries took part in this seminar: Cameroon, Turkey, Palestine and Morocco. Experts

from the following national and international organizations also participated: The International

Chamber of Commerce of Morocco (ICC Morocco), The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry of

Morocco (CFCIM), The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), The

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Moroccan Association of Exporters (ASMEX), The World Trade Organization (WTO), The United

Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), The International Islamic Center for

Reconciliation and Arbitration (IICRA), The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

(UNCTAD), and the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT).

2. Training Workshop on Trade in Services for OIC Member States, 22-24 March 2017, Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco:

Within the framework of the implementation of technical assistance to OIC Member States on WTO issues, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Statistical, Economic, Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Department of

Cooperation and Resource Mobilization of the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) organized, in collaboration with the Ministry in Charge of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco a Training Workshop on "Trade in Services of OIC Member States", 22-24 March 2017, Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco.

The objective of the workshop is to build the capacity of OIC Member States to negotiate in the Trade in Services sector, and to increase their capacity to promote trade in services at the OIC level, thereby stimulating intra-OIC trade and assisting OIC Member States in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The following countries took part in this seminar namely: Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Benin, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Palestine, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia and Turkey.

Experts from the following regional and international organizations also participated: COMCEC

Coordination Office, ICDT, SESRIC, ISDB, League of Arab States (LAS), International Trade Centre

(ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

3. Workshop on the Preparation of the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference: An African Perspective, 17-19 July 2017, Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco:

As part of their technical assistance program on WTO issues for Member States, the Department of

Resource Mobilization and Cooperation of the Islamic Development Bank (DRMC-ISDB) and the

Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) organized, in collaboration with the Secretariat of

State in charge of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco, a Seminar on the Preparation of the 11th

WTO Ministerial Conference: An African Consultation dedicated to African States Members of the OIC,

from 17 to 19 July 2017 in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco.

The following countries took part in this seminar: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon,

Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo,

Tunisia and Uganda.

The following institutions also attended and directed the seminar: FAO, UNCTAD, CUTS International,

ISDB and ICDT.

4. Workshop on ICDT/ISDB joint study to increase OIC Member States Coordination vis-à-vis WTO issues, OIC Mission in Geneva, 19-20 October 2018.

Referring to the Resolution N° 52 of the Thirty-Third Session of the COMCEC held during the period

20-23 November 2017 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey which has requested ICDT and IsDB Group to

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submit a working paper for the consideration of the next COMCEC meeting about Practical options to

increase OIC Ministers of Trade Coordination vis-à-vis recent developments in the negotiations at the

WTO and to formulate positions on priority issues for OIC Countries currently being proposed in the

WTO, ICDT and ISDB in collaboration with OIC Permanent Representative in Geneva, organized a

Workshop on this theme in Geneva, Switzerland on 19-20 October 2018.

The objectives of this workshop are to review the draft study and gather the observations and comments

made by Member States (MS) in one hand and on the other hand to elaborate practical recommendations

to better enhance common coordination mechanisms between Member States in WTO matters.

The Workshop was attended by the following representatives of the OIC Permanent Missions in

Geneva: Niger, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Sudan, Palestine, Pakistan, Oman, Albania,

Bangladesh, Mali, Djibouti, Senegal, Gabon, Turkey, Maldives, Brunei, Pakistan, Jordan, Comoros,

Yemen and Kazakhstan.

ICDT, the OIC Mission in Geneva and IsDB Group facilitated this meeting.

After a fruitful debate, participants proposed the following recommendations:

to include all the observations made by OIC MS Representatives in the final version of the study; in this regard, the MS are invited to give their views about the different options mentioned in the Chapter III of this study;

to extend the period of receiving the observations from OIC MS representative till 31st October 2018; the observations received after this date will be added as an annex to the study and distributed during the COMCEC Meeting in Istanbul (26-29 November 2018);

to add a new Option (4th Option) relating to the creation of an informal Group at the Geneva Level, like the WAEMU Group;

In the case the “Option 1” is adopted, the OIC Group shall focus on the systemic issues like the reform of WTO;

to initiate a “Reverse Linkage Program” on WTO matters for the benefit of acceding countries; to initiate a special training program for Geneva OIC based Missions starting from 2019.

5. Workshop on Post-WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC Member States, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 19-20 November 2018.

Within the framework of the implementation of the Resolution of Thirty-Third Session of the COMCEC,

held during the period 20-23 November 2017 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, which has called upon

the ISDB and ICDT to continue providing technical assistance to the OIC Member States on WTO related

issues and to enhance their efforts in sensitizing the Member States to the impact of WTO trade

negotiations on their economies.

The resolution also requested the ISDB and ICDT to synergize and coordinate their efforts to strengthen

the human and institutional capacity of the OIC Member States, so as to facilitate their full integration

into the Multilateral Trading System in a fair and equitable manner.

In this regard, ICDT and ISDB Department of Strategy and Cooperation organised in collaboration with

the Ministry of Economy of the State of the United Arab Emirates a Workshop on Post-WTO Eleventh

Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC Member States in Dubai on 19-20 November 2018.

This Workshop is organised to discuss important topics including the state of play of WTO negotiations,

the Ministerial Decisions by MC11, the Status of OIC Member States’ accession to WTO and future OIC

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Coordination for WTO issues and to share views of the OIC Countries’s Representatives in the OIC

priorities of negotiations within WTO and issues to be discussed for the upcoming Ministerial

Conference to be held in Kazakhstan in 2020.

The following Member countries participated in this Workshop: Egypt, Oman, Suriname, Tajikistan,

Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Sudan, Malaysia, Pakistan and UAE.

ICDT, ISDB, South Centre and Third Word Network experts also attended the workshop.

The experts presented the following themes:

State of play of WTO negotiations post MC11 (Agriculture, Fisheries Subsidies, Development, WTO Reform … etc)

Ministerial Decision and Statement at MC11: E-commerce, TRIPS and Domestic regulations in services

Ministerial Statements on new issues: Investment facilitation, Gender and Trade, Micro and SMEs

OIC Coordination for WTO issues and OIC Member States’ Accession to WTO.

After the presentations of sessions and general debate, participants agreed on the following:

- To organise a workshop on trade in services and e-commerce for the OIC Member States; - To follow-up the issues relating to the Investment facilitation within WTO and organise capacity

building program on the Investment bilateral and regional Agreements and policies; - To hold capacity building program on the issues of WTO negotiation; - To encourage OIC Member States to consider the establishment of an OIC Body on Dispute

Settlement on Trade and Investment; - To integrate Gender and Trade issues in the OIC future negotiations and trade policies; - To consider the study on the OIC Coordination Mechanism in the WTO issues prepared by ICDT

and ISDB; - To prepare a whitepaper on WTO Reforms by clarifying the positions and related matters (MTS,

Appellate Body appointment) of the OIC MS to have a better understanding on WTO current issues;

- To support OIC request to be a Member Group to WTO; - To organise capacity building program and Business Forums dedicated to Women Entrepreneurs’

(Online Marketing, MSMEs development, value chain) and more involvement women in OIC Trade fairs and exhibitions;

- To share best practices and experiences between Advanced OIC Member Countries and less developed countries in issues related to gender via the ISDB Program Reverse Linkage;

- To provide more support to non-WTO OIC Member Countries to accede to WTO; - To request ISDB and ICDT to prepare specialized studies on emerging issues such as investment

facilitation, e-commerce, MSMEs, Gender and Trade. 6. Workshop on Post-WTO Eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC African Member

States, Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco, 26-27 June 2019:

CONTEXT:

Within the framework of the implementation of the Resolution of Thirty-Third Session of the Standing

Committee on Commercial and Economic Cooperation among OIC Countries (COMCEC), held during

the period 20-23 November 2017 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, which has called upon the IsDB and

ICDT to continue providing technical assistance to the OIC Member States on WTO related issues and

to enhance their efforts in sensitizing the Member States to the impact of WTO trade negotiations on

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their economies. ICDT and IsDB Country Strategy and Cooperation organised in collaboration with the

Secretary of State in Charge of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco on Post-WTO Eleventh

Ministerial Conference (MC11) for the OIC African Member States in Casablanca on 26-27 June 2019.

OBJECTIVES:

This Workshop is organised to discuss important topics including the state of play of WTO negotiations,

the Ministerial Decisions by MC11, WTO reforms, the Status of OIC Member States’ accession to WTO

and future OIC Coordination for WTO issues and to share views of the OIC Countries Representatives

in the OIC priorities of negotiations within WTO and to tackle MC12 issues to be held in Nur-Sultan,

Republic of Kazakhstan on 8-11 June 2020.

PARTICIPANTS:

The following countries participated in this Workshop: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote

d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia,

Uganda and Morocco.

ICDT, IsDB, WTO and Third Word Network experts attended the workshop and UNCTAD

representative delivered his presentation via a video on international investment facilitation.

PROCEEDINGS:

Opening ceremony

After reading Verses of the Holy Qur'an, the representative of the Secretary of State in Charge of Foreign

of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Director General of ICDT and the Representative of the ISDB Group

took the floor at the opening ceremony notably to express their thanks and gratitude the Government

of the Kingdom of Morocco and the OIC.

They highlighted the importance of following XXX the WTO negotiations, WTO reforms, WTO

Ministerial Conferences themes of negotiations, the Status of OIC Member States’ accession to WTO

and future OIC Coordination for WTO issues.

They pointed out that the new WTO issues are very important for the OIC Member States such as e-

commerce, Investment Facilitation, MSMEs, Gender and Trade and domestic regulations in services

and WTO reforms.

Axes of the Workshop:

The experts presented the following themes: agriculture, fisheries subsidies, Safeguarding and

Strengthening the dispute settlement system, TRIPS non-violation, domestic regulations in services and

special and differential treatment for developing countries and LDCs, investment facilitation for

development, Trade & Women's Economic Empowerment, MSMEs and E-commerce, Rulemaking and

Negotiations, Developmental Perspectives, State of Play of on-going work post MC11, and also recent

development on WTO Reform including Improving efficiency and effectiveness of the WTO's

monitoring and deliberative functions.

Besides, two special panels put an emphasis on WTO Reform and impact on African OIC Countries in

one hand and on OIC Coordination mechanism on WTO issues and Accessions.

During debates, participants underscored the importance of key issues such as: subsidies, fisheries,

domestic regulations on trade in services including ecommerce, involvement of private sector in WTO

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Negotiations, development of national investment promotion policies and need of joint technical

assistance of WTO, UNCTAD, IsDB and ICDT for the benefit of OIC Countries in the field of WTO

issues including investment facilitation.

Representatives of the OIC Member States shared their experiences on the latest development on the

WTO trade negotiations in their countries and WTO reforms.

Experts underlined following issues during the debate and underscored:

Investment facilitation: Challenges related to capacity for some developing countries will need to be addressed in line

with their national development strategies. Additional loss of regulatory space arising from new commitments on investment facilitation should carefully be considered as these will add to existing commitments in international treaties related to investment liberalization and protection as well as to existing national investment laws providing various incentives schemes to foreign investors.

Developing countries, including OIC countries, have already in place investment facilitation measures at the national level. Carefully consideration is needed to assess whether elevating the commitments to a multilateral binding treaty on investment facilitation is desirable.

In ongoing discussions on investment facilitation, OIC member states could be guided by UNCTAD’s action menu on investment facilitation which is based on the UNCTAD Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development – which already propose action on investment facilitation in its first edition of 2012 – and the rich experiences and practices of investment promotion and facilitation efforts worldwide over the past decades. Throughout the process of formulation and peer review, the UNCTAD global action menu has benefited from substantive inputs and strong support from investment for development stakeholders, including high-level policymakers from developing, developed and transition economies, as well as intergovernmental organizations and the private sector.

Besides, in providing a broad overview of the state of play in the on-going work amongst Members –

negotiating work and a general overview of the discussions on systemic issues and concerns, the

representatives from the WTO highlighted the following matters for the participants to consider that

would enable their delegations to better participate in the discussions on these areas:

WTO Current issues: Dispute Settlement: Concerns have been raised about the functioning of the Appellate Body.

Members are engaged in trying to unblock the situation and several proposals have been tabled and discussed in this regard. Resolving this and restoring the Appellate Body to its full membership will require addressing such concerns.

Rulemaking and Negotiations: For some years, many Members have been highlighting the need for updating the existing rulebook of the WTO. While multilateralism is paramount, some feel there should be flexibility to pursue initiatives as they wish. Others argue for the need to reflect the realities of a WTO membership with increasing diverse needs and levels of development.

Besides, it is important to take account of the systemic implications of proceeding with plurilateral

negotiations on rules in areas where a multilateral mandate is non-existent, such as negotiations on

broad e-commerce/ digital economy rules, or where there has been a multilateral mandate and ongoing

process, such as domestic regulations negotiations and discussions in the WTO Working Party on

Domestic Regulations. These processes carry the risk of undermining the value of the multilateral

process and jeopardizing the rules-based system of the WTO.

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Ecommerce and the digital economy: E-commerce rules at the international level should not undermine the regulatory space needed for

countries to advance their digital industrialization processes, including the ability to utilize and

regulate data in ways needed to address various public policy purposes, including but not limited

to privacy, security, consumer protection, competition, tax record keeping, effective financial

regulation among other public policy objectives.

Development: Some view that the realities of today are not reflected in the on-going discussions on development, while some believe that special and differential treatment remained integral as it provides all developing countries with the flexibility and policy space needed for their economic development. Several proposals were put on the table as a response to those diverging views.

Regular Work: Several WTO Members had put forward proposals on improving notifications and transparency of domestic measures; improving capacity and opportunity for deliberation and improving opportunities and mechanisms to address specific trade concerns. Reflecting on such papers would help provide an informed response on the matter.

Domestic regulations disciplines in services: Any disciplines on domestic regulations in services should not undermine the ability of governments

to balance different regulatory objectives, which often extend beyond trade and commercial

objectives to include public interest objectives, such as social, community, health, environmental,

safety, among other objectives. More studies are needed by WTO OIC Members on the potential

implications of proposed domestic regulation disciplines on all government Ministries and

regulators at all levels of government.

Other issues: Gender and MSMEs: Many of the proposals advocated for in the name of MSMEs, such as extensive rules on e-commerce/

digital economy, would undermine the ability of MSMEs to survive in their domestic and regional

markets.

In addressing gender and women’s economic empowerment at the WTO, it is necessary to study the

implications of existing WTO rules, including rules in the area of agriculture, intellectual property,

services and industrial products on women in developing countries and least developed countries.

For example, studies have shown that the most effective gender equality policies seem to consist of

various forms of positive discrimination in national regulation, such as the gender sensitive domestic

services initiatives, which sits at odds with the WTO’s anti-discrimination rules.

WTO Reform: Development considerations should remain central to any process of WTO reform, fully taking into

account the interests and concerns of developing Members. In this context, Special and Differential

Treatment provisions should remain unconditional rights of developing Members, and must be

preserved and strengthened in both current and future WTO agreements, with priority attention to

outstanding LDC issues.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

After the presentations of sessions and general debate, participants agreed on the following:

to organise workshops on trade in services, notifications, SDT, negotiations techniques, WTO reform and new issues including e-commerce for the OIC Member States by IsDB, ICDT in collaboration with relevant International institutions especially WTO and UNCTAD;

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to follow-up the issues relating to the Investment facilitation within WTO and UNCTAD and to carry on capacity building program on the Investment bilateral and regional Agreements, policies and dispute settlement;

to hold Consultative Meeting at the level of Experts and Ministers in order to prepare the MC12 to be held in Kazakhstan in June 2020;

to follow up the implementation of the recommendations of the Study on the OIC Coordination Mechanism in the WTO issues prepared by ICDT and IsDB;

the relevant OIC Institutions to prepare a whitepaper on WTO Reforms and related matters (MTS, Appellate Body appointment) in order to help the OIC MS in this process;

to support the OIC request to obtain the Observer status within to WTO; to carry on providing technical assistance to non-WTO OIC Member Countries to accede to WTO

and encourage sharing experiences between OIC Countries (such as with Morocco, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan) via Reverse Linkage Programme of IsDB in collaboration with ICDT and WTO.

7.Workshop on “Current WTO Negotiations for the OIC Member States Embassies in Geneva”,

Geneva, Switzerland, 14-15 November 2019

I/ CONTEXT:

Within the framework of the implementation of the relevant recommendations of the workshop on “OIC Member States Coordination vis-à-vis WTO Issues” held in Geneva on 19-20 October 2018 at OIC Office Geneva Headquarters, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), the Country Strategy and Cooperation Department of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) organised in collaboration of the Permanent Mission of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva a Workshop on “Current WTO Negotiations for the OIC Member States Embassies in Geneva”, Geneva, Switzerland, 14-15 November 2019.

II/ OBJECTIVES:

The objectives of this workshop were to discuss important topics including current negotiations and their impact on OIC Member Countries trade on some important issues such as Agriculture, Fisheries subsidies, Electronic Commerce, Trade in Services, Investment Facilitation for Development, Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Trade & Women's Economic Empowerment, WTO Reform and Coordination for WTO Issue. This event contributed to provide greater awareness to the OIC Permanent Missions participants on recent

developments on WTO Negotiations in order to prepare them to raise issues for their delegations to the upcoming Ministerial Conference (MC12) to be held in Nur-Sultan, Republic of Kazakhstan on 8-11 June 2020. In this regard, as per the recommendation of the workshop participants, IsDB and ICDT will collaborate to organize Preparatory Experts Group Meetings and OIC Ministerial Meetings before the holding of MC12.

III/ PARTICIPANTS:

The Workshop was attended by the following representatives of the OIC Permanent Missions

in Geneva: Algeria, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Brunei, Comoros, Djibouti, Gabon, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Maldives, Mali, Morocco Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Tajikistan and Yemen.

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In addition, experts and representatives from ICDT, IsDB, the OIC Permanent Mission in

Geneva, WTO, UNCTAD, ITC, Third World Network and South Centre attended this meeting.

IV/ PROCEEDINGS:

The Workshop started with the opening statements of H.E Amb. Nassima BAGHLI, Representative of the OIC Permanent Mission in Geneva, Mr. Syed Hussain QUADRI, Representative of IsDB Group and Mr. Mamoudou SALL, Representative of ICDT. The three speakers underlined the importance for OIC Member States to enhance their coordination on

WTO issues and defend their common interests during the WTO meetings and negotiations and also encourage acceding countries to speed-up their Membership in WTO in order to contribute to sustain world and intra-OIC trade in line with OIC-2025 Program of Action.

In addition, Experts from WTO, UNCTAD, ITC, South Centre, Third World Network, IsDB and

ICDT made presentations on the following topics: Session I: General Overview of WTO Negotiations

Session II: Current negotiations and their impact on OIC Member Countries trade

- Agriculture

- Fisheries subsidies

- Electronic Commerce

- Trade in Services

- Investment Facilitation for Development

- Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

- Trade & Women's Economic Empowerment

Session III: WTO Reform

- Improving efficiency and effectiveness of the WTO's monitoring and deliberative functions

- Safeguarding and Strengthening the dispute settlement system

- Rulemaking and Negotiations

- Developmental Perspectives

Session IV: OIC Coordination for WTO Issue

- Coordination mechanism for WTO Issues

- Technical Assistance program of IsDB and ICDT

During the closing ceremony, certificates of participation were distributed to participants and report

and recommendations were read out by the representative of ICDT.

V/ RECOMMENDATIONS:

After a fruitful debate, participants proposed the following recommendations:

to organize workshops regularly on WTO Issues in Geneva for the benefit of OIC Permanent Missions;

to encourage OIC Members to attend actively in the Preparatory Meetings of MC12 both at

Experts and Ministerial Levels to play a more recognized role in these deliberations and eventually bringing proposals at the highest levels;

to call upon IsDB and ICDT to provide Technical Assistance Programs for the benefit OIC

acceding Countries to WTO and also to organize specialized workshops on WTO reforms, domestic regulation disciplines, fisheries subsidies, e-commerce, investment facilitation for

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development, dispute settlements, MSMEs, women empowerment, reginal integration and

trade information systems (Trade Global Help Desk) to deepen regional integration with OIC Member States;

to request OIC WTO Members to support the request by OIC to have an Observer Status to

WTO Meeting; to request OIC WTO Members to support the OIC Member States wishing to accede to WTO

Membership.

Table 1: Dates for the setting up of the OIC Observer Working Groups at the WTO

Country Date of the setting up of

a working group Chairman of the working group

Algeria 17th June 1987 Uruguay

Azerbaijan 16th July 1997 Germany

Comoros 9th October 2007 Peru

Iraq 13th December 2004 Morocco

Iran 26th May 2005 -

Lebanon 14th April 1999 France

Libya 27th July 2004 Spain

Sudan 25th October 1994 Japan

Syria 4th May 2010 -

Uzbekistan 21st December 1994 Korea

Somalia 7th December 2016

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Table 2:

LIST OF THE OIC MEMBER STATES, WTO MEMBERS

COUNTRIES DATE OF ACCESSION

1. Albania 8 September 2000

2. Bahrain 1st January 19953. Bangladesh 13 December 19934. Benin 1st January 1995

5. Brunei January 1995

6. Burkina Faso 3 June 1995 7. Cameroon 13 December 1995

8. Chad 19 October 1996

9. Côte d'Ivoire 1st January 1995 10. Djibouti 31 May 1995

11. Egypt 30 June 1995

12. Gabon 1st January 199513. Gambia 23 October 1996

14. Guinea 25 October 1995

15. Guinea-Bissau 31 May 199516. Guyana 1st January 1995

17. Indonesia 1st January 1995

18. Jordan 11 April 200019. Kuwait 1st January 1995

20. Kazakhstan 30 November 2015

21. Kyrgyzstan 20 December 199822. Malaysia 1st January 199523. Maldives 31 May 1995

24. Mali 31 May 1995 25. Morocco 1st January 1995

26. Mauritania 31 May 1995

27. Mozambique 26 August 1995 28. Niger 13 December 1996

29. Nigeria 1st January 1995

30. Oman 9 November 200031. Pakistan 1st January 1995

32. Qatar 13 January 1996

33. Saudi Arabia 11 December 200534. Senegal 1st January 1995

35. Sierra Leone 23 July 1995

36. Suriname 1st January 199537. Tajikistan 2nd March 2013

38. Togo 31 May 1995

39. Tunisia 29 March 1995

40. Turkey 26 March 199541. Uganda 1st January 1995

42. United Arab Emirates 10 April 1996

43. Yemen 26 June 2014 44. Afghanistan 29 July 2016

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LIST OF OIC MEMBER STATES CANDIDATES FOR ACCESSION TO THE WTO

(OBSERVERS)

1. Algeria

2. Azerbaijan

3. Comoros

4. Iran

5. Iraq

6. Lebanon

7. Libya

8. Sudan

9. Syria

10. Uzbekistan

11. Somalia

LIST OF THE OIC MEMBER STATES, NON-MEMBERS OF WTO

1. Palestine

2. Turkmenistan (expression of interest on July 2019)