The 26th Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the COMCEC was held on May 12th, 2015 in Ankara, on the sidelines of the 31st Meeting of the Follow-up Committee of the COMCEC.
The Meeting was chaired by Mr. Selçuk KOÇ, Director at the COMCEC Coordination Office. In addition to the OIC General Secretariat and COMCEC Coordination Office (CCO), the following OIC Institutions attended the Meeting:
- Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)
- Islamic Center for the Development of Trade (ICDT)
- Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group
- Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA)
- Standards and Metrology Institute of Islamic Countries (SMIIC)
During the meeting the following agenda items were discussed and agreed on:
Implementation of the COMCEC Strategy: Contributions of the OIC Institutions to the COMCEC Strategy:
Highlighting the significance of the contributions of the OIC Institutions to the realization of the COMCEC Strategy, the Committee reviewed the lists of activities of the relevant OIC Institutions aligned with the COMCEC Strategy for 2015 based on the cooperation areas, namely trade, transport and communications, tourism, agriculture, poverty alleviation and financial cooperation.
Enhancing Cooperation and Coordination Among the OIC Institutions:
Highlighting the importance of joint activities organized by the OIC Institutions, the Committee discussed the challenges (i.e. limited financial resources, overlapping activities and logistical issues, etc.) faced by the OIC Institutions in conducting joint activities. In this respect, the Committee noted that the OIC Institutions’ existing facilities (conference halls etc.) may be utilized in conducting joint activities.
The Committee stressed the need for coordinated efforts for long term and sustained visibility of OIC Institutions and elaborated on how to enhance awareness on the OIC Institutions’ programs/projects/activities. It was noted that preparation of high quality promotional materials (brochures, visuals, documentary, etc.), updating the web-sites of the OIC Institutions, displaying promotional materials and publications of the OIC Institutions, organizing press conferences might be important measures in this regard.