The Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) has agreed to join hands with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) for the proposed Muslim conference.
Chief Executive Officer TDAP, Tariq Ikram disclosed these details in a meeting at LCCI on Wednesday where he was briefing about the upcoming event, which is organised by the chairman OIC Standing Committee, Husnain Raza Mirza.
A Business Conference will be holding in Lahore in August 2007, in which top businessmen and government functionaries of 57 Muslim countries will be invited.
The TDAP chief also announced the formation of a Steering Committee for the proposed Muslim Business Conference with equal number of members from each side. On the occasion he said that the TDAP and the LCCI should organise an exhibition on the sidelines of this mega event.
He urged LCCI to prepare a list of tradable items among Muslim states through Early Harvest Programme with the help of Chambers of Commerce of all the Muslim countries. The proposed conference would help formulate basic guidelines and procedures for a Free Trade Regime among Muslim countries, as it was a prerequisite for economic solidarity, growth and development of the Muslim world, he added.
Tariq Ikram said the TDAP was working on a three-pronged strategy to increase interaction with local trade bodies with a focus on role of regional offices of TDAP.
He said that Sectoral Experts Committees were being formed to identify the potential of these sectors and added that Trade Facilitation Committee would be revamped to get maximum benefit out of it.
"Despite the fact that religion is a common bond among the 57 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), there are several roadblocks or missing links for an effective and adequate economic cooperation between them," said LCCI President Shahid Hassan Sheikh. He added that no substantial or sustained efforts had ever been made by the Muslim states to realise their common market dream.
He further said; "Muslims represent 1/4th of the world's population, possess 70 percent of world's energy resources and 40 percent of the global availability of raw materials but the collective OIC share in global trades is barely 6-7 percent. The human development indicators are among the lowest in the world".
Shahid Hassan Sheikh said that the Muslim Business Conference would provide an opportunity to find new trading partners, generate new ideas to boost multilateral ties among Muslim states and boost mutual bonds. Senior Vice President Yaqoob Tahir Izhar also expressed his views on the occasion.
Comments
Comments are closed.