Economic Cooperation and Development Review is a semi-annual periodical of SESRIC which will feature interviews with eminent personalities, short articles on selected issues of economic growth, development and cooperation which are of immediate interest to the member countries, summaries of selected papers and reports prepared by the Centre itself, brief papers and news on current economic developments in individual member countries, interviews with eminent personalities in the Islamic world and elsewhere, and a section on titles and reviews of recently published books.

SESRIC has released the first issue of its new semi-annual periodical Training Cooperation E-Newsletter, which brings together training and technical cooperation activities undertaken by SESRIC, and aims at constituting a basic connection arena that shall enhance and strengthen relationships among related institutions of the OIC Member States.

The 57 OIC member countries are dispersed over a large geographical region in four continents, extending from Albania (Europe) in the north to Mozambique (Africa) in the south, and from Guyana (Latin America) in the west to Indonesia (Asia) in the east. As such, the OIC countries as a group account for one sixth of the world land area and more than one fifth of its population. They constitute a substantial part of the developing countries and, as a group, are well-endowed with a high economic potential in different fields and sectors such as energy and mining (mainly oil and gas), agriculture and arable land, human resources, and a vast strategic trading region. However, the OIC countries do not make up a homogeneous economic group but, rather, a mixed set-up reflecting a high level of heterogeneity and divergence in economic development levels, structure and performance.

Microfinance has been developed around the world as a popular poverty reduction strategy. Many pioneering Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) all over the world have demonstrated that these institutions can deliver financial services to the poor that otherwise would not have access to these services. Various impact studies have reported the successful outcomes of microfinance programs in improving the incomes and reducing the vulnerability of the poor. Yet, despite the successful implementation of microfinance programs all around the world, millions of poor still cannot get access to the services provided by the microfinance institutions. In order to improve the outreach, scale and further growth of microfinance industry new financing ideas are needed.

The least-developed countries (LDCs) comprise a group of countries that have been officially identified by the UN as “least-developed” in terms of low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, weak human resources and high degree of economic vulnerability. In 1971, the General Assembly of the UN approved the first list of LDCs, which at that time included 24 countries. In the following years, the number of countries included in the list increased steadily reaching 48 in 1994. The official inclusion of Senegal in 2001 and Timor-Leste in 2003 brought the total of those countries to 50.

In the rapidly changing world of today, with sweeping developments taking place in all facets of life, education is fundamental to the future prospects of most of the developing countries. Clearly, a good education policy must extend far beyond formal education, encompassing areas such as social policy, health policy and economic policy as well. Education does, however, remain at the core of human capital formation. The benefits of a good quality education not only provide returns to the individuals educated, but it also helps in alleviating poverty, facilitates economic growth and brings other social benefits to the society.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) has been preparing the Annual Economic Report on the OIC Countries since 1979 to serve as the basic background document for the agenda item of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) under Economic Affairs entitled “World Economy and the Islamic Countries”. The Centre has been also presenting the Report to the annual sessions of both the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs (ISCOM) and the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC).

The substantial growth of the international tourism activity is one of the most remarkable economic and social phenomena of the past century. According to the World Tourism Organisation, the number of international tourist arrivals increased from 25.3 million in 1950 to 846 million in 2006, corresponding to an average annual growth rate of 6.6 percent. The revenues generated by those tourists, i.e. international tourism receipts, grew by 11.3 percent per annum over the same period. This rate of growth was significantly higher than that of the world economy as a whole making international tourism one of the largest categories of international trade.