In its capacity as the main socio-economic research organ of the OIC, the Centre undertakes research activities on various issues of concern to the OIC member countries with a view to analysing the prevailing situation at the OIC level and suggesting the appropriate policy actions that need to be taken in order to face the challenges and strengthen the intra-Islamic cooperation in the concerned areas. The research activities of the Centre include issues such as the major macroeconomic developments in the member countries and the world as well as those related to the ten priority areas/sectors of cooperation identified in the OIC Plan of Action and those stipulated by the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action such as poverty eradication, environment, education, agriculture, industry, energy, foreign trade, tourism, etc.

In so doing, the Centre undertakes extensive assignments to prepare technical background reports and papers on several issues placed on the agenda of various related OIC conferences and meetings. Some of these reports are prepared on an annual basis such as the Annual Economic Report on the OIC Member Countries and the Economic Problems of the Least Developed and Land Locked OIC Countries. Others are prepared as background reports to the relevant Islamic ministerial conferences such as the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Tourism (see International Tourism in the OIC Countries: Prospects and Challenges), the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research (see Education: Prospects and Challenges in the OIC Member Countries and Academic Rankings of Universities in the OIC Member Countries), the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Environment (see Environmental Sustainability in OIC Member Countries, Environmental Performance of OIC Member Countries and Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol: Implications for the OIC Member Countries) and the Islamic conference of Ministers of Health (see Tobacco Control in OIC Member Countries).

In the light of the vision of the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action and within the framework of its research activities, the Centre gives special attention to the major development problems and challenges facing the OIC member countries, particularly the least-developed and poor countries. In this context, the Centre has prepared a number of reports related to poverty eradication in the OIC member countries (see Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Situation in the OIC Member Countries, Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Initiative in the OIC Member States of Sub-Saharan Africa: A Preamble to Cassava Integrated Project and Microfinance Institutions in the OIC Member Countries).

In an attempt to enhance the efforts of the Centre to provide the necessary and up-to-date information and knowledge that would make the member countries better informed of each other’s capacities and needs as well as challenges and potentials towards higher economic integration, the Centre prepares short outlook reports on various socio-economic development topics related to the OIC member countries (OIC Outlook Series). Using the Centre’s main database “BASEIND”, these reports cover various socio-economic categories and present statistical information and analytical investigations as well as some policy implications on the topics in question. The Centre also publishes the following two research periodicals:

Journal of Economic Cooperation and Development, which is a quarterly Journal published by the Centre since 1979. It is a journal of applied research in development economics and aims at enhancing cooperation among the members of the OIC. The material published in it derives mainly from contributions by authors in the member countries and elsewhere of original papers that deal with important economic and social issues of concern to the OIC member countries. It gives special attention to papers that deal with the potentials for and possibilities of promoting and expanding economic and technical cooperation among the developing countries.

Economic Cooperation and Development Review, which is an annual periodical features interviews with eminent personalities in the Islamic world and elsewhere, short articles on selected issues of economic growth, development and cooperation 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, and a section on titles and reviews of recently published books.

Finally, within the framework of its research mandate of following up the major developments in the world economy and their expected impacts on the economies of the member countries, the Centre prepared six short reports during the period May 2009 to June 2010 on the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 with the aim of monitoring the developments related to the crisis at the global, regional and national levels. SESRIC Reports on the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 focus on the impact of the crisis on the economies of the developing countries, including the OIC members, and highlight the actions taken by these countries to contain the negative impact of the crisis on their economies. In the same context, see also Socio-Economic Impacts of Food Prices Volatility in the OIC Member Countries.