Inter-Islamic trade under the spotlights
Regional, Economics, 4/18/2003

Delegates of North and West African Muslim countries members to the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) are meeting in Casablanca part of a regional forum to debate means to boost inter-Islamic trade.

Participants are exploring means to encourage trade exchanges among Muslim countries in an international context, marked by a galloping globalisation and fierce competition.

Globalisation leaves no choice to North and West African OIC member countries but to get together for a rational exploitation of their wealth and energies, Moroccan external trade Minister, Mustapha Mechahouri, told participants.

The official, who stressed Morocco's pledge to the consolidation of Inter-Islamic trade, recalled a decision by King Mohammed VI to write off the debt of least developed African countries and exempt their products from customs duties.

OIC Secretary General, Abdelouahed Belkziz, urged, in a message to participants, the Pan-Islamic Organisation's members to draw benefit from the various mechanisms offered by the OIC to develop business affairs and spur trade exchanges.

He voiced hope to see inter-Islamic trade, which presently stands at 11 percent of OIC member countries' overall exchanges, jump to 30 percent or 50 percent during the current decade.

The Forum, to close doors on Friday, is co-sponsored by Morocco, the Casablanca-based Islamic Center for the Development of Trade and the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.

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