The Sixteenth Meeting of the SMIIC General Assembly (GA) was held on 02 November 2021 in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and hosted by Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO). The meeting was attended by representatives from 29 SMIIC Members States and 2 Observer States as well as the representatives from the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as the new SMIIC Member State, representatives of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) and International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA) as observers.
Following a recitation from the Holy Quran, H.E. Dr. Saad bin Othman AL-KASABI, Chairman of SMIIC Board of Directors (BOD), made an opening speech welcoming all SMIIC Members to the meeting.
The message of H.E. Dr. Yousef AL-OTHAIMEEN, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was delivered by H.E. Dr. Ahmad K. SENGENDO, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs of the OIC. In his message, H.E. Dr. Yousef A. AL-OTHAIMEEN, commended SMIIC for its activities, especially with its standards development and Technical Committee work, the implementation of its trade and capacity building projects as well as for preparation of the OIC Global Halal Quality Infrastructure system. By congratulating SMIIC for the activities that have greatly complemented several OIC actions and policies on trade financing, trade promotion and trade facilitation, he urged SMIIC to regularly provide technical and training support to the interested OIC Member States to raise awareness on the utilization of the newly published/revised OIC/SMIIC standards.
Following the speeches of the heads of the invited organizations, The Secretary General briefed the General Assembly on the latest developments and activities of SMIIC as well as summarizing the activities of SMIIC Councils, Technical Committees, Strategic Plan implementation and other important activities conducted since the 15th SMIIC General Assembly Meeting. He also highlighted important issues that were discussed during the 22nd SMIIC Board of Directors Meeting held on 01 November 2021 in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, technical activities of the Institute were reported by the Chairs of the SMIIC Councils and SMIIC/CCA. The General Assembly approved the report of external financial auditor and the SMIIC Budget 2022 as well as the Annual Mandatory Contribution of SMIIC Member States to 2022 SMIIC Budget. External Auditor for the term 2021-2023 was also appointed at the General Assembly.
During the meeting, following 13 members of the Board of Directors (BOD) have been directly appointed by the General Assembly for the term 2022-2024:
- Republic of CAMEROON
- Arab Republic of EGYPT
- Islamic Republic of IRAN
- Republic of IRAQ
- Hashemite Kingdom of JORDAN
- MALAYSIA
- Kingdom of MOROCCO
- Islamic Republic of PAKISTAN
- State of PALESTINE
- Kingdom of SAUDI ARABIA
- Republic of TUNISIA
- Republic of TURKEY (Permanent Member of the SMIIC Board of Directors)
- UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
As another important outcome, Mr. İhsan ÖVÜT has been re-elected as the Secretary General of SMIIC for the term 2022-2024.
