The 24th General Assembly Meeting and 5th Board of Directors Meeting of the ICCI
Date: 23-26 April 2008
Venue: Jeddah - Saudi Arabia

The 24th Session of the General Assembly of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) and the 5th Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Chamber was held on 24 April 2008 in Jeddah 2008.

H.E Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of Makkah province, patronized the opening ceremony of the 24th General Assembly of the ICCI. He was received by H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

In a statement he delivered at the opening Session of the 24th Session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, Prof. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, stated that the 11th Islamic Summit Conference held in Dakar, Republic of Senegal, gave a prominent place to the economic issues in view of the important role played by the economic dimension in joint Islamic Action in the advancement of the Ummah in the area of human development. In his statement, the Secretary-General commended the efforts made by the ICCI in this regard and reiterated his full support for the ICCI Board of Directors. In conclusion, of his statement, the Secretary-General mentioned that the government of Uganda would host an OIC Business Forum on 16-17 June 2008 prior to the 35th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

At the meeting, the Chairman of the board of directors of the ICCI, H.E. Saleh Kamel, announced that there were two parts of Islamic heritage they wanted to revive: Zakah (Islamic taxation) and Waqf (endowments), which he called an essential Islamic institution. The Chairman added that they had established a number of endowment offices in North and West Africa.

The Chairman also called on Businessmen to provide more support for the chamber saying that executives view the chamber as charity and not as an investment opportunity.

Following a general deliberation on various issues, the Members spoke of the importance of investing in crops due to the world food shortage and boosting their imports in the world market to new levels.

The Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) announced the establishment of International Zakah Commission and Waqf (endowments) Commission.