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I. INTRODUCTION
The 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers entitled Session of Progress and Global Harmony was held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey from 14-16 June 2004. The Secretary General of ECO, H.E. Mr. Askhat Orazbay attended the Conference on the invitation of H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
2. Over 2300 delegates participated in the Conference from: (a) 55 OIC member countries, (b) Bosnia & Herzegovina, Central African Republic and Kingdom of Thailand as observer countries, (c) Muslim Communities & Minorities (Turkish Muslim Community of Kibris and Moro National Liberation Front), (d) international and regional organizations like UN, NAM, League of Arab States, African Union, ECO, Parliamentary Union of the OIC member states, and (e) OIC subsidiary organs and affiliated institutions. There were as many as 110 items on the OIC meeting agenda.
II. PROCEEDINGS
3. H.E. Ahmet Necdet Sezer, President of the Republic of Turkey chaired the session and welcomed the Ministers, delegates and participants of the Conference.
4. H.E. the Foreign Minister of Guinea on behalf of African regional group, H.E. the Foreign Minister of Tunisia on behalf of Arab Group, H.E. the Foreign Minister of Indonesia on behalf of Asian Group expressed their deep gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of Turkey for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to the delegates and participants.
5. H.E. Dr. Kamal Kharrazi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chairman of the 30th Session of ICFM highlighted the efforts made by his country to convene the 31st session of the Conference. He thanked the Secretary General of OIC, his aides and entire staff of the General Secretariat for their tired-less efforts to implement the resolution of the Islamic Conference.
6. H.E. Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, the Secretary General of the OIC presented a full report on the OIC’s activities for the past year.
7. H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey was unanimously elected as Chairman of the 31st session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.
8. The Conference adopted the Draft Agenda (Annex-I) and Work Program (Annex-II) submitted by the Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM).
9. The Conference stressed the need to promote confidence building and security among member states, uphold Islamic values and refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of states. It also called for greater cooperation, coordination and consultation and for a common stance in international fora.
10. The Conference asked the international community to ensure that the benefits of globalization are fairly shared among all countries so as to strike a balance between the advantages and obligations of developing countries including OIC member states. It also called on developed countries to ensure greater trade liberalization and opportunities for the products and services of the developing countries.
11. The Conference urged member states to increase their share of world trade through greater competitiveness at the international level. It further underscored the need to increase intra-trade among OIC member states.
12. The Conference stressed the need for the speedy accession of all the developing countries to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It condemned all attempts to include non-trade issues such as labour and environment standards into the WTO work program or to link such issues with trade transactions. It also reiterated its appeal to the WTO to focus more on the developmental aspects of the various multilateral trade agreements by taking a set of measures such as compliance with the provisions regarding special and preferential treatment for developing countries and due consideration to the special needs of least developed countries.
13. The Conference asked the international community to stop giving agricultural subsides which are prejudicial to producers in the developing countries. It noted with satisfaction the initiative of some African member states of the OIC to maintain cotton prices and develop their indigenous cotton industry so that the export earnings of the cotton producing countries are not eroded.
14. The Conference supported the initiative taken to promote the basic products of member states with a view to increasing the added value of such products and the earnings of producers.
15. The Conference appreciated the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) for strengthening economic and commercial cooperation among the member states.
16. The Conference commended the initiative of the Government of the Republic of Turkey in its capacity as Chairman of COMCEC to hold a high level ministerial meeting that will focus on the enhancement of OIC intra trade and investment to be held concurrently with the 20th Session of COMCEC, which is scheduled to take place in November 2004 in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of COMCEC. It appreciated, in this connection, the groundwork being made by the host country in cooperation with General Secretariat and the IDB. It called upon the member states to actively participate in the high level Ministerial meeting.
17. The Conference stressed on the speedy implementation of the OIC Plan of Action to strengthen Economic and Commercial Cooperation among member states. It further stressed that a higher level of economic and commercial cooperation among member states would lay the foundation for greater economic integration that would lead ultimately to the establishment of an Islamic common market.
18. The Conference appreciated the entry into force of the Framework Agreement on the Trade Preferential System among OIC member states and setting up of the Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC), and noted with satisfaction that the TNC held its first meeting of the First Round of Trade Negotiations among participating countries on 6-9 April 2004 in Antalya-Turkey. The second meeting of TNC will be held in September 2004.
19. The Conference showed its concern over widespread poverty in least developed countries, which leads to their marginalization in the global economy. It further affirmed the common objective of member states to eradicate poverty before the end of the next decade and the need to incorporate micro credit programs into the strategy for poverty eradication.
20. The Conference stressed the major steps taken at the World Food Summit in Rome on 8-13 June 2002, which are aimed at alleviating hunger and achieving food security.
21. The Conference expressed the role of the private sector in giving added impetus to economic and commercial cooperation among OIC member states. It further emphasized the role of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the industrial development of member states. It appreciated the progress made by the OIC Task Force on SMEs to work out a strategy for the development of such enterprises.
22. The Conference appreciated the role played by the subsidiary organs and affiliated institutions of the OIC that are concerned with economic and commercial matters and called on member states to support their activities.
23. The Conference stressed the need for cooperation and effective measures to protect the environment which is essential for the sustainable development of member states.
24. The Conference commended ISESCO for its major achievements in education, science, culture and communications. It requested ISESCO to make greater efforts to attain its noble goals.
25. The Conference requested the Secretary General to contact with international and regional organizations in order to establish, maintain and strengthen cooperation with them. He was further requested to conduct a study on how to identify the appropriate areas of cooperation that are of common concern and submit it to the next session for appropriate decision.
26. The Conference decided to hold the 32nd session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in the Republic of Yemen at a date to be decided in coordination between the host country and the OIC.
27. The Conference elected H.E. Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, as new Secretary General of the OIC for a term of four years starting from 1st January 2005.
28. The reports and resolution were adopted unanimously whereas the final communiqué and Istanbul Declaration (Annex-III) were adopted after necessary amendments proposed by the member states.
29. H.E. Mr. Abdullah Gul, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and Chairman of the Session, addressed the closing session and highly appreciated the brotherly spirit that prevailed during the deliberations of the Conference.
III. BILATERAL MEETINGS
30. Availing the opportunity, the Secretary General also called on H.E. Ambassador Ayhan Kamel, Executive Director of the Group of Developing-eight Countries (D8).
31. The Secretary General H.E. Mr. Askhat Orazbay thanked H.E. Ambassador Ayhan Kamel, Executive Director of the Group of Developing-eight Countries (D8) for sparing his precious time for the meeting. The Secretary General of ECO pointed out that Iran, Pakistan and Turkey are common members of the two organizations who can play vital role in bringing the two organizations closer. The two organizations showed common interest in trade, investment, transport, communications, energy, agriculture, environment, industry & health.
32. The Secretary General of ECO informed about holding of 8th ECO Summit and 14th meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers(COM) in Dushanbe, Tajikistan which will be attended by the heads of the member states.
33. The Executive Director of Group of D8 countries emphasized that experts should be employed for the technical posts in the regional organizations. The Secretary General of ECO briefed him about the recommendations of Eminent Persons Group and gave him the recent publications of ECO Bulletin. He requested him to visit the website of ECO and ask his colleagues to find areas of mutual interest to formulate joint projects. The Executive Director of D8 Group thanked the ECO Secretary General for taking initiative for the subject meeting.
34. In his meeting with H.E. Ambassador Valeri Chechelashvili, Secretary General of Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) the two Secretary-Generals exchanged good wishes and showed great interest in mutual cooperation. The Secretary General of BSEC informed that he had met with the two previous Secretary Generals of ECO and is delighted to meet with H.E. Mr. Askhat Orazbay, the present Secretary General of ECO. H.E. Mr. Askhat Orazbay commended the services of H.E. Ambassador Valeri Chechelashvili for his organization (BSEC) and congratulated him for his selection as Secretary General, BSEC for the second term.
35. The ECO Secretary General briefed him about the structure of ECO and major priority areas of ECO. He also updated him about the recommendations of Eminent Persons Group (EPG) and informed that ECO has Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with more than 20 international organizations.
36. The ECO Secretary General stressed to share the experience of each others’ organizations through the countries which have common membership of the two organizations. He gave the current ECO bulletin and requested H.E. Ambassador Valeri Chechelashvili to visit the website of ECO for better understanding and knowing the areas of common interest.
37. The Secretary General of BSEC called for greater cooperation, coordination and consultations between the two organizations. He proposed to identify the priority areas of mutual cooperation and common concern.
IV. CONCLUSION
38. The aims and objectives of the OIC and ECO coincide a great deal towards their common membership. To realize their objectives, ECO gives high priority to its contacts with OIC and its subsidiary institutions. The visit of the Secretary General to attend the 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers has provided opportunity for close relations with regional and international agencies to strengthen economic and commercial cooperation in the areas of mutual interest.
