The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) participated in the “Networking and Knowledge Sharing Programme for Senior Staff of Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Arabic Speaking Countries of the OIC”. The Meeting was jointly organised by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange of Turkey (TOBB). The Meeting was held at the Headquarters of TOBB in Ankara during the period 22-25 June 2010.

The objective of the Meeting was to share Turkey’s experience with OIC Member Countries in the field of trade and industry development as well as introducing the Turkish Chamber System and its role in policy making and economic transformation of Turkey as a whole. The Meeting also heard presentations of country experiences in trade and economic opportunities.

The Meeting was attended by the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of fourteen Arab states namely, Algeria, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Mr. Mehmet Fatih Serenli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department, and Mr. Nader Jamil Abdulhamid, researcher, represented SESRIC at the Meeting. Mr. Abdulhamid made a presentation titled “Enhancing Intra-OIC Trade: The Role of SESRIC in Trade Capacity Building”. The presentation focused on possible areas of enhancing intra-OIC trade through the OIC-VET Programme and other SESRIC’s Capacity Building Programmes.