Within the framework of the implementation of the OIC Ten Year Program of Action (which along with other objectives aims to raise the share of intra-OIC trade in the global trade of the OIC Member States to 20% by 2015), particularly in the context of the implementation of the “Road Map for Enhancing Intra-OIC Trade”, which has been adopted by the Expert Group Meeting on “enhancing intra-OIC trade” held in Ankara in July 2008 and in compliance with the outcomes of the First Consultative Meeting of the OIC Institutions operating in the economic field, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) organized the 2nd Consultative Meeting of the OIC Institutions to review the progress on the implementation of the “ Executive Program of the Road-Map for Achieving Intra-OIC Trade Targets”.

The Meeting was held at the ICDT’s Headquarters in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco on 31st May and 1st June 2010. The Meeting was attended by the representatives of the following OIC Institutions: the General Secretariat of the OIC, the COMCEC Coordination Office, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Cooperation Office, the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investments and Export Credit (ICIEC), the Islamic centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI). The Meeting was also attended by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the Kingdome of Morocco, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and cooperation of the Kingdome of Morocco, the Ministry of Finance of the State of Kuwait, the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation and the Regional Office of IDB in Rabat. Mr.Mazhar Hussain, Researcher at SESRIC, represented the Centre in the said Meeting.

The Meeting aimed to review the progress in the implementation of activities and projects assigned to various OIC institutions to facilitate the implementation of the Road Map for Enhancing Intra-OIC Trade. During the two working session in the first day of the Meeting, the participants analyzed and evaluated the implementation of the activities and projects of the OIC Institutions under the following five themes: Trade Financing, Trade Facilitation, Trade Promotion, Development of Strategic Commodities and Capacity Building. During the working sessions, the representatives of the OIC institutions presented their respective reports and briefed the Meeting about their completed activities and their planned activities scheduled to be implemented during the remaining five years of the OIC Ten Years Plan of Action, till 2015. In its capacity as the Coordinator of the capacity building section of the “Executive Program of the Road-Map for Achieving Intra-OIC Trade Targets”, the representative of SESRIC, Mr. Hussain informed the Meeting about the SESRIC’s efforts to help the member countries to train their workforce through its Capacity Building Programs which are designed for a wide range of sectors and could also be equally beneficial for the capacity building in the area of trade. In addition, Mr. Hussain also briefed the Meeting about SESRIC’s Vocational Education and Training Program for OIC Member Countries (OIC-VET) which aims to improve the quality of vocational education and training both in public and private sectors.

Under the agenda item “New Modalities for Cooperation”; the ICDT presented the outcome of a study titled “The Guiding Principles and Foundations for Cooperation between the OIC Institutions active in the field of Economic and Commercial Cooperation”. This study gave recommendations on four broad areas namely Principles and Foundations, Planning and Organization, Instruments for the Selection, Implementation and Follow up of Joint Activities and Financing. The Meeting elaborated on this study in detail and after some minor amendments adopted its recommendations unanimously. In this context, the Meeting also agreed to launch a new wave of joint activities based on integrated sector based program approach focused on targeted products and countries. To initiate the first pilot project based on integrated approach, ICDT requested the OIC Institutions to send the list of products which can be selected for joint activities. The Meeting also decided to rename the OIC Consultative Meeting as “Consultative Group for enhancing Intra-OIC Trade”.

The second day of the Meeting was devoted to prepare the new updated version of the “Executive Program of the Road-Map for Achieving Intra-OIC Trade Targets” which contains the activities and projects to be carried out by the OIC institutions for the period 2011/2015. This New Executive Program along with the final report and the recommendations has been adopted at the end of the Meeting. The final report of said Meeting will be submitted to the competent Organs of the OIC notably, the Islamic Commission of Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs, the COMCEC Meetings (Ministerial Session and Follow up Committee) and to the meetings of the Task Force on Intra-OIC Trade.