Turkish president urges Islamic countries to enhance economic cooperation Turkish president urges Islamic countries to enhance economic cooperation

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on here in a meeting on Saturday Islamic countries to enhance economic and commercial relations while strengthening political solidarity.

The Turkish president made an inaugural address at the ministerial opening session of the 25th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC).

Gul said that the Islamic countries should have a close cooperation in various fields, including intra-trade, tourism, transportation, stock exchange and even cotton production at the backdrop of global financial crisis.

He stressed the importance of the trade preferential system among the OIC member states as the institutional basis to achieve a target of 20 percent by 2015 as against 16 percent at present.

He pledged that Turkey would make further efforts to improve investment environment and boost intra-regional investment flows.

The Islamic countries should also take concerted actions in major issues such as climate change, food security and water resources, he continued.

Gul said that the current period was suitable for spreading Islamic civilization's knowledge, experiences and Islam's peaceful character across the globe.

"We must note that the COMCEC is not much effective in timely implementation of projects and in reaching its potential," Gul added.

In order to assist COMCEC to become a more effective and strong body, he said, "we must strengthen certain mechanisms and prepare a visionary document that could be implemented."

Ekmeledin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said at the meeting that this meeting has special significance because the OIC was first established as a political forum and now it has pushed forward economic and commercial cooperation among 57 Islamic member countries.

Issues such as global financial crisis, economic cooperation among member states and combat against poverty and unemployment are high on agenda of the one-day ministerial meeting in Istanbul.

The OIC Economy Summit will be held in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey, on Nov. 9. Heads of state and government will be attended at the summit which is expected to focus on activities in the past 25 years.

The summit will be chaired by Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also to take part in the OIC economic summit.

Informed sources said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also expected to participate in the summit.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Friday that Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir would visit Turkey within the scope of the meeting of the COMCEC of the OIC.

Replying to the questions on a diplomatic note by the EU to Turkey for al-Bashir's visit, Gul said that members of an international organization could visit another country.

"A meeting will take place (in Istanbul) within the scope of the Organization of Islamic Conference. It is not a bilateral visit," he said.

The summit will host the heads of state of the OIC Executive Committee member countries, including Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uganda, as well as heads of state of some other OIC member countries.