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Report Of The Meeting Bringing Together The Six Centers Of Excellence And The R&D Centers In The OIC Member Countries
(İzmir, 2-5 February 2009)
1. The Meeting Bringing Together the Six Centers of Excellence and the R&D Centers in the OIC Member Countries was held on 2-5 February 2009 in İzmir, the Republic of Turkey.
2. The following OIC Member States attended the Meeting ;
5. Following a recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an, H.E. Assoc. Prof. Masum BURAK, Director General of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Turkey, made a statement. Welcoming the delegates, he emphasized that the cotton industry in many OIC Member States is still characterized by several production, processing, institutional and structural weaknesses that jeopardize its viability in an era of increasing globalization and competition in world cotton industry. On the other hand, some OIC cotton producing countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt have accumulated a vast experience in efficiently producing and processing high quality cotton. Ass. Prof. BURAK announced that the meeting place, Agro-hydrology Research and Training Centre, will be converted to an International Agricultural Research and Training Centre.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Ass. Prof. Masum BURAK is attached as Annex-II.)
6. H.E. Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN, General Director for Organisation, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Turkey, addressing the meeting, expressed his hope that these meetings would be useful in order to develop possible cooperation opportunities activating the OIC Cotton Action Plan to put forth concrete steps to have beneficial outcomes.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN is attached as Annex-III.)
7. H.E. Ferruh TIĞLI, Head of COMCEC Coordination Office and Director General of Foreign Economic Relations in State Planning Organization of the Republic of Turkey, addressing the meeting, underlined the importance of speedy implementation of the OIC Cotton Action Plan with concrete projects and programmes in the field.
He expressed his hope that this meeting and the following meetings of the Project Committee and Steering Committee will help launching the projects for introduction of better yielding cotton varieties, modernization of processing plants, and establishment of trade infrastructure in cotton including stock exchanges in the Member States. He also stated that COMCEC Coordination Office will continue to support OIC Cotton Cooperation Programme and initiatives under the Programme with every possible means.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E. Ferruh TIĞLI is attached as Annex-IV.)
8. Ambassador Nabika DIALLO, Adviser to H.E. the Secretary General of the OIC, delivered the message of H.E Prof. Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU. In his message, H.E Prof. IHSANOGLU expressed his deep gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey, for the hosting and successful organization of this important Cotton Meetings as well as for all the arrangements made to ensure their success. He also expressed his appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank for its contribution towards the organization of this event.
He mentioned that these cotton meetings will look into all the challenges facing the Member States in cotton sector and evolve ways and means to allow for an optimum development of this important sector. He also emphasized that these meetings are very important for cooperation, coordination and ease communication between the Centers of Excellence and the Cotton Research Centers of the Member States. He hoped that decisions of these meetings will contribute to the timely implementation of the OIC 5 Year Cotton Action Plan (2007-2011). H.E. IHSANOGLU pointed out that we need to develop joint projects and make full use of the natural, financial, technical and technological resources available to us within the framework of our States and institutions in order to achieve our objectives.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Prof. Ekmeleddin IHSANOĞLU, Secretary General of the OIC is attached as Annex-V.)
9. H.E. Mustafa Cahit KIRAÇ, Governor of İzmir, the Republic of Turkey, made inaugural statement. He expressed his pleasure to host this Meeting in Izmir and affirmed that the objective of the Cotton Workshop was to convert a big potential to an economic success. He gave information on the importance of cotton production and the rich agricultural potential in the Aegean region. He also stated that Turkey is ready to share its sound commercial and industrial infrastructure and experience with Islamic countries and to cooperate with them.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E. Mustafa Cahit KIRAÇ is attached as Annex-VI.)
10. The Meeting elected the Council as follows:
12. The Meeting adopted and considered the Agenda and the Work Programme, presented in the Annex-VII.
13. H.E. Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN, General Director for Organization, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Turkey briefed the Meeting on the background of the OIC Cotton Cooperation Programme.
14. In the Meeting, Heads of Delegation of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Turkmenistan made presentations on Country Report of their respective countries.
(Copies of the Country Reports are attached as Annexes.)
15. A presentation was delivered by Mr. Nazeem NOORDALI on the role of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) in trade financing with particular focus on the trade financing extended in the cotton sector in the OIC Member States in 2008.
He placed emphasize on the use of Structured Trade Finance (STF) technique and tools to provide a complete supply chain financing solution, with the example of Burkina Faso implemented last year for an amount of € 44 million.
This presentation shows how financing is provided for purchasing of fertilizers to produce cotton and to pay for the cotton seed to the farmers until repayment is obtained from export of the cotton fiber, with a description of security in form of warehouse receipt and monitoring by a collateral farm management company designated by the ITFC.
(A copy of the presentation of Mr. Nazeem NOORDALI is attached as Annex-VIII.)
16. Mrs. Dilek KAHRAMAN, Manager of Agro-hydrology Research and Training Center (ARTC), gave brief information about the ARTC. Mrs. KAHRAMAN called all relevant research centers, institutions and individual researchers from OIC Member States to cooperate and make use of the resources of the center. Turkey declared that they could offer training programmes on cotton for the Member States.
17. The meeting called upon the utilization of the Agro-hydrology Research and Training Center that is going to be transformed into the International Agricultural Research and Training Center for future OIC conventions in the field of agriculture.
18. The Meeting took note of the call of Syria for cooperation in heat-tolerant genotypes of cotton, machinery, early maturity, marketing, biological combat, and organic production.
19. The representative of Egypt also declared a need for cooperation in the heat-tolerant varieties of cotton.
20. Representatives of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan requested cooperation in alternative irrigation systems with lower amount of water to overcome the salinization problem.
21. Representative of Senegal also underlined the problem they faced due to high dependency on unstable rainfall and called for cooperation in alternative irrigation systems and in mechanized agriculture in the field of agricultural operations.
22. BADEA declared their readiness for support in terms of co-financing, training, and technical assistance in cotton sector for African Member States of the OIC.
23. FAO-Central Asia Office expressed their readiness for technical and financial support to cotton producing countries in Central Asia.
24. Mr. Yüksel KABAKÇI made a presentation on the working rules and procedures for the Centers of Excellence.
(A copy of the presentation of Mr Yüksel KABAKÇI is attached as Annex-IX.)
25. The meeting decided that the Centers of Excellence, after consultation among themselves, will determine their working rules and procedures.
26. The Meeting determined the countries each Center of Excellence is responsible for:
• Nazilli Cotton Research Institute (TURKEY)
(A copy of the presentation on the SWOT analysis is attached as Annex-X.)
28. The meeting agreed to associate WAEMU in the future activities of the OIC cotton related programmes.
29. Mr. Mousa TRAORE, Senior Agriculturalist Expert, Country Operation Department-2 of the IDB, chaired the First Project Committee Meeting on Cotton. Turkey (3), Senegal (1), Egypt (2), Bangladesh (1), Uganda (1), BOAD (2), and ICDT (1) submitted 11 project proposals for consideration of the Committee.
(The report of the Project Committee Meeting is attached as Annex-XI.)
30. The Second Steering Committee on Cotton was held on 4 February 2009 in İzmir on the sidelines of the Meeting Bringing Together the Six Centers of Excellence and the R&D Centers in the OIC Member Countries. The report of the said meeting will be submitted separately.
31. The Meeting expressed its gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to the participants and for the excellent arrangements made to ensure the success of the Meeting.
32. The meeting expressed its thanks to the General Secretariat of the OIC under the able leadership of its Secretary General H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, for his dedicated and tireless efforts for the OIC Five Year Cotton Action Plan. The participants also expressed their appreciations to the General Secretariat of the OIC and the IDB for their financial support provided for the organization of this Meeting.
33. The meeting expressed its appreciation to the chairman of the Project Committee and the members of the Committee for the quality of their work.
34. The meeting expressed its thanks to international organizations namely FAO, BADEA, BOAD, and CFC for attending to the meeting and for their valuable contributions.
35. At the end of the proceedings, the participants addressed their thanks to the Chairman of the First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers for his excellent steering of the debates.
Message of H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization Of The Islamic Conference to the to the first meeting of the centers of excellence/the cotton research centers and the first project committee meeting on cotton
Izmir, Republic of Turkey (2-5 February 2009)
The Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Turkey,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Aleikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
I would like, first of all, to extend to all the participants my greetings and best wishes for a successful outcome. I would also like to avail of this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey and the Nazilli Cotton Research Institute for hosting and organization of this important Cotton Meeting as well as for all the arrangements made to ensure its success. I must convey my regrets for not being able to attend this important meeting personally due to unavoidable commitments.
I wish also to express my appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank for its contribution towards the organization of this event. Cooperation between Member States and the assistance of concerned OIC institutions in this domain will help add value to cotton which, as you all know is of vital importance for some OIC countries and contribute to improving living conditions for cotton producers. This First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers comes as a natural follow up to the First Steering Committee Meeting on Cotton and the 24th Session of the COMCEC, which were held in Antalya, Republic of Turkey, on 12 May 2008, and in Istanbul, Turkey, on 20-24 October 2008, respectively.
The OIC General Secretariat gives prime importance to the development of the cotton sector and textile industry in the Member States. In this regard, I would like to mention that to organize the First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers is very important for cooperation and coordination as well as ease communication between the Centers of Excellence and the Cotton Research Centers of the Member States. I hope also that the delegates of the all participant Member States will present good projects, programmes and valuable recommendations for the further development of cotton and textile sectors of the Member States.
Moreover, I would also like to mention that the First Project Committee Meeting on Cotton will follow today’s Research Centers Meeting, and it is scheduled to be held on 4-5 February 2009. A Project Committee will review the programs and projects submitted by Member States, Research Centers, OIC Institutions, and regional organizations in the domain of cotton, textile and related activities and define ways and means for their implementation. I hope that decisions of these meetings will contribute to the implementation of the OIC 5 Year Cotton Action Plan (2007-2011) which is indeed one of the important actions initiated within the economic agenda of the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference, held in Makkah Al Mukarramah in December 2005.
The OIC Ten Year Programme of Action has underlined the pivotal role of the private sector in the development of economic and commercial cooperation among Member States. The strengthening of relations between Muslim businessmen will contribute to the development of member states to invest in OIC Member States and to develop partnership relations with their counterparts in OIC Member States. I am therefore hopeful that your present meeting will look into all these questions and evolve ways and means to allow for an optimal development of cotton and textile in private sector in the OIC Member States, especially in the context of food and financial crises. We need to develop joint projects and make full use of the natural, financial, technical and technological resources available to us within the framework of our States and institutions in order to achieve our objectives.
Finally, I assure you of the continued active support of the OIC General Secretariat and its organs and institutions in the process of implementation of the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action and the OIC Five-Year Action Plan on Cotton, of which this meeting is a part. I hope that our Participants will help and assist the OIC Cotton sector with their valuable proposals for this meeting.
I am confident that this Meeting will contribute towards achieving these noble objectives.
(İzmir, 2-5 February 2009)
1. The Meeting Bringing Together the Six Centers of Excellence and the R&D Centers in the OIC Member Countries was held on 2-5 February 2009 in İzmir, the Republic of Turkey.
2. The following OIC Member States attended the Meeting ;
- Republic of Azerbaijan
- People's Republic of Bangladesh
- Arab Republic of Egypt
- Republic of Indonesia
- Islamic Republic of Pakistan
- Republic of Senegal
- Syrian Arab Republic
- Republic of Tajikistan
- Republic of Tunisia
- Republic of Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Republic of Uzbekistan
- Nazilli Cotton Research Institute (TURKEY)
- Cotton Research Institute (EGYPT)
- Cotton Research Administration Ministry of Agriculture (SYRIA)
- Agricultural Research Institute of Senegal (Experimental Unit of Velingara) (SENEGAL)
- Central Cotton Research Institute (PAKISTAN)
- Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)
- Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT)
- Islamic Development Bank (IDB)
- Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI)
- International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)
- Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)
- Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
- West African Development Bank (BOAD)
5. Following a recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an, H.E. Assoc. Prof. Masum BURAK, Director General of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Turkey, made a statement. Welcoming the delegates, he emphasized that the cotton industry in many OIC Member States is still characterized by several production, processing, institutional and structural weaknesses that jeopardize its viability in an era of increasing globalization and competition in world cotton industry. On the other hand, some OIC cotton producing countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt have accumulated a vast experience in efficiently producing and processing high quality cotton. Ass. Prof. BURAK announced that the meeting place, Agro-hydrology Research and Training Centre, will be converted to an International Agricultural Research and Training Centre.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Ass. Prof. Masum BURAK is attached as Annex-II.)
6. H.E. Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN, General Director for Organisation, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Turkey, addressing the meeting, expressed his hope that these meetings would be useful in order to develop possible cooperation opportunities activating the OIC Cotton Action Plan to put forth concrete steps to have beneficial outcomes.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN is attached as Annex-III.)
7. H.E. Ferruh TIĞLI, Head of COMCEC Coordination Office and Director General of Foreign Economic Relations in State Planning Organization of the Republic of Turkey, addressing the meeting, underlined the importance of speedy implementation of the OIC Cotton Action Plan with concrete projects and programmes in the field.
He expressed his hope that this meeting and the following meetings of the Project Committee and Steering Committee will help launching the projects for introduction of better yielding cotton varieties, modernization of processing plants, and establishment of trade infrastructure in cotton including stock exchanges in the Member States. He also stated that COMCEC Coordination Office will continue to support OIC Cotton Cooperation Programme and initiatives under the Programme with every possible means.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E. Ferruh TIĞLI is attached as Annex-IV.)
8. Ambassador Nabika DIALLO, Adviser to H.E. the Secretary General of the OIC, delivered the message of H.E Prof. Ekmeleddin IHSANOGLU. In his message, H.E Prof. IHSANOGLU expressed his deep gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey, for the hosting and successful organization of this important Cotton Meetings as well as for all the arrangements made to ensure their success. He also expressed his appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank for its contribution towards the organization of this event.
He mentioned that these cotton meetings will look into all the challenges facing the Member States in cotton sector and evolve ways and means to allow for an optimum development of this important sector. He also emphasized that these meetings are very important for cooperation, coordination and ease communication between the Centers of Excellence and the Cotton Research Centers of the Member States. He hoped that decisions of these meetings will contribute to the timely implementation of the OIC 5 Year Cotton Action Plan (2007-2011). H.E. IHSANOGLU pointed out that we need to develop joint projects and make full use of the natural, financial, technical and technological resources available to us within the framework of our States and institutions in order to achieve our objectives.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E Prof. Ekmeleddin IHSANOĞLU, Secretary General of the OIC is attached as Annex-V.)
9. H.E. Mustafa Cahit KIRAÇ, Governor of İzmir, the Republic of Turkey, made inaugural statement. He expressed his pleasure to host this Meeting in Izmir and affirmed that the objective of the Cotton Workshop was to convert a big potential to an economic success. He gave information on the importance of cotton production and the rich agricultural potential in the Aegean region. He also stated that Turkey is ready to share its sound commercial and industrial infrastructure and experience with Islamic countries and to cooperate with them.
(A copy of the Statement of H.E. Mustafa Cahit KIRAÇ is attached as Annex-VI.)
10. The Meeting elected the Council as follows:
- Chairman: Republic of Turkey
- Vice Chairman: Republic of Senegal
- Vice Chairman: Syrian Arab Republic
- Rapporteur: Islamic Republic of Pakistan
12. The Meeting adopted and considered the Agenda and the Work Programme, presented in the Annex-VII.
13. H.E. Mehmet Vehbi GÜNAN, General Director for Organization, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Turkey briefed the Meeting on the background of the OIC Cotton Cooperation Programme.
14. In the Meeting, Heads of Delegation of Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Senegal, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Turkmenistan made presentations on Country Report of their respective countries.
(Copies of the Country Reports are attached as Annexes.)
15. A presentation was delivered by Mr. Nazeem NOORDALI on the role of International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) in trade financing with particular focus on the trade financing extended in the cotton sector in the OIC Member States in 2008.
He placed emphasize on the use of Structured Trade Finance (STF) technique and tools to provide a complete supply chain financing solution, with the example of Burkina Faso implemented last year for an amount of € 44 million.
This presentation shows how financing is provided for purchasing of fertilizers to produce cotton and to pay for the cotton seed to the farmers until repayment is obtained from export of the cotton fiber, with a description of security in form of warehouse receipt and monitoring by a collateral farm management company designated by the ITFC.
(A copy of the presentation of Mr. Nazeem NOORDALI is attached as Annex-VIII.)
16. Mrs. Dilek KAHRAMAN, Manager of Agro-hydrology Research and Training Center (ARTC), gave brief information about the ARTC. Mrs. KAHRAMAN called all relevant research centers, institutions and individual researchers from OIC Member States to cooperate and make use of the resources of the center. Turkey declared that they could offer training programmes on cotton for the Member States.
17. The meeting called upon the utilization of the Agro-hydrology Research and Training Center that is going to be transformed into the International Agricultural Research and Training Center for future OIC conventions in the field of agriculture.
18. The Meeting took note of the call of Syria for cooperation in heat-tolerant genotypes of cotton, machinery, early maturity, marketing, biological combat, and organic production.
19. The representative of Egypt also declared a need for cooperation in the heat-tolerant varieties of cotton.
20. Representatives of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan requested cooperation in alternative irrigation systems with lower amount of water to overcome the salinization problem.
21. Representative of Senegal also underlined the problem they faced due to high dependency on unstable rainfall and called for cooperation in alternative irrigation systems and in mechanized agriculture in the field of agricultural operations.
22. BADEA declared their readiness for support in terms of co-financing, training, and technical assistance in cotton sector for African Member States of the OIC.
23. FAO-Central Asia Office expressed their readiness for technical and financial support to cotton producing countries in Central Asia.
24. Mr. Yüksel KABAKÇI made a presentation on the working rules and procedures for the Centers of Excellence.
(A copy of the presentation of Mr Yüksel KABAKÇI is attached as Annex-IX.)
25. The meeting decided that the Centers of Excellence, after consultation among themselves, will determine their working rules and procedures.
26. The Meeting determined the countries each Center of Excellence is responsible for:
• Nazilli Cotton Research Institute (TURKEY)
- Azerbaijan
- Kazakhstan
- Uzbekistan
- Turkmenistan
- Tajikistan
- Iran
- Sudan
- Morocco
- Yemen
- Tunisia
- Iraq
- Algeria
- Guinea
- Togo
- Mali
- Burkina Faso
- Ivory Coast
- Benin
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- Bangladesh
- Cameroon
- Uganda
- Chad
(A copy of the presentation on the SWOT analysis is attached as Annex-X.)
28. The meeting agreed to associate WAEMU in the future activities of the OIC cotton related programmes.
29. Mr. Mousa TRAORE, Senior Agriculturalist Expert, Country Operation Department-2 of the IDB, chaired the First Project Committee Meeting on Cotton. Turkey (3), Senegal (1), Egypt (2), Bangladesh (1), Uganda (1), BOAD (2), and ICDT (1) submitted 11 project proposals for consideration of the Committee.
(The report of the Project Committee Meeting is attached as Annex-XI.)
30. The Second Steering Committee on Cotton was held on 4 February 2009 in İzmir on the sidelines of the Meeting Bringing Together the Six Centers of Excellence and the R&D Centers in the OIC Member Countries. The report of the said meeting will be submitted separately.
31. The Meeting expressed its gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to the participants and for the excellent arrangements made to ensure the success of the Meeting.
32. The meeting expressed its thanks to the General Secretariat of the OIC under the able leadership of its Secretary General H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, for his dedicated and tireless efforts for the OIC Five Year Cotton Action Plan. The participants also expressed their appreciations to the General Secretariat of the OIC and the IDB for their financial support provided for the organization of this Meeting.
33. The meeting expressed its appreciation to the chairman of the Project Committee and the members of the Committee for the quality of their work.
34. The meeting expressed its thanks to international organizations namely FAO, BADEA, BOAD, and CFC for attending to the meeting and for their valuable contributions.
35. At the end of the proceedings, the participants addressed their thanks to the Chairman of the First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers for his excellent steering of the debates.
Message of H.E. Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization Of The Islamic Conference to the to the first meeting of the centers of excellence/the cotton research centers and the first project committee meeting on cotton
Izmir, Republic of Turkey (2-5 February 2009)
The Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Turkey,
Distinguished Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Aleikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
I would like, first of all, to extend to all the participants my greetings and best wishes for a successful outcome. I would also like to avail of this opportunity to express my gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey and the Nazilli Cotton Research Institute for hosting and organization of this important Cotton Meeting as well as for all the arrangements made to ensure its success. I must convey my regrets for not being able to attend this important meeting personally due to unavoidable commitments.
I wish also to express my appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank for its contribution towards the organization of this event. Cooperation between Member States and the assistance of concerned OIC institutions in this domain will help add value to cotton which, as you all know is of vital importance for some OIC countries and contribute to improving living conditions for cotton producers. This First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers comes as a natural follow up to the First Steering Committee Meeting on Cotton and the 24th Session of the COMCEC, which were held in Antalya, Republic of Turkey, on 12 May 2008, and in Istanbul, Turkey, on 20-24 October 2008, respectively.
The OIC General Secretariat gives prime importance to the development of the cotton sector and textile industry in the Member States. In this regard, I would like to mention that to organize the First Meeting of the Centers of Excellence/the Cotton Research Centers is very important for cooperation and coordination as well as ease communication between the Centers of Excellence and the Cotton Research Centers of the Member States. I hope also that the delegates of the all participant Member States will present good projects, programmes and valuable recommendations for the further development of cotton and textile sectors of the Member States.
Moreover, I would also like to mention that the First Project Committee Meeting on Cotton will follow today’s Research Centers Meeting, and it is scheduled to be held on 4-5 February 2009. A Project Committee will review the programs and projects submitted by Member States, Research Centers, OIC Institutions, and regional organizations in the domain of cotton, textile and related activities and define ways and means for their implementation. I hope that decisions of these meetings will contribute to the implementation of the OIC 5 Year Cotton Action Plan (2007-2011) which is indeed one of the important actions initiated within the economic agenda of the Third Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference, held in Makkah Al Mukarramah in December 2005.
The OIC Ten Year Programme of Action has underlined the pivotal role of the private sector in the development of economic and commercial cooperation among Member States. The strengthening of relations between Muslim businessmen will contribute to the development of member states to invest in OIC Member States and to develop partnership relations with their counterparts in OIC Member States. I am therefore hopeful that your present meeting will look into all these questions and evolve ways and means to allow for an optimal development of cotton and textile in private sector in the OIC Member States, especially in the context of food and financial crises. We need to develop joint projects and make full use of the natural, financial, technical and technological resources available to us within the framework of our States and institutions in order to achieve our objectives.
Finally, I assure you of the continued active support of the OIC General Secretariat and its organs and institutions in the process of implementation of the OIC Ten-Year Programme of Action and the OIC Five-Year Action Plan on Cotton, of which this meeting is a part. I hope that our Participants will help and assist the OIC Cotton sector with their valuable proposals for this meeting.
I am confident that this Meeting will contribute towards achieving these noble objectives.
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