Regional groupings are building blocks for a pan-Islamic economic integration, according to Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
A source at the OIC headquarters here informed Khaleej Times on Thursday that addressing the Twenty-Sixth Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC) in Istanbul, urged OIC member states to consider supporting the numerous capacity-building programmes undertaken by the various OIC institutions as this will certainly pave the way for aligning national trade policies to enhance intra-OIC cooperation in the domain of trade.
The source said that the meeting discussed the implementation of the OIC Ten Year Programme of Action, which was approved at the 3rd extra-ordinary OIC summit held in Makkah in 2005, within the context of the on-going economic activities, programmes and projects for promoting rapid socio-economic development in the OIC countries.