Author Archives: Samira Aliyari

On 3 September every year, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) celebrates OIC Youth Day. This event is in accordance with a resolution passed during the 44th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Abidjan, Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, in 2017. The purpose of this day is to recognize the contributions made by youth in OIC member states towards development and raise awareness about the challenges and issues these young people face. The aim is to promote greater youth participation in decision-making, implementation, and evaluation and to work together to address OIC Member States’ challenges in this area.

On this occasion, H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, the OIC Secretary-General, congratulated the young men and women in the OIC Member States. He also commended the efforts made by the Member States and the initiatives launched by the concerned organizations and institutions to support youth empowerment and enhance their participation.

The Secretary-General announced that the General Secretariat, in collaboration with the Ministry of Sports in Saudi Arabia and the Chair of the 5th Session of the Islamic Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers (ICYS), has chosen the slogan for the OIC Youth Day for 2023 to be “Youth Volunteerism and Social Responsibility.” He urged the Member States and their organizations and institutions to support and promote volunteer work among young people. He emphasized that volunteerism embodies a societal message aimed at enhancing participation in building human capacities and skills, achieving social solidarity, and expressing the vitality of society and the readiness of its members for dedication and sacrifice.

It is worth noting that the ICYS, hosted by Saudi Arabia in September 2022, called on the OIC Member States and relevant institutions to develop and implement programs and activities related to volunteering as a crucial factor that enables young people to acquire relevant skills and build their capabilities, including employment and entrepreneurship development.

In addition, the Secretary-General highlighted that the ICYS 5th Session and the CFM 49th Session decided to upgrade the Youth Unit in the General Secretariat to the Department of Youth and Sports to raise the level of representation on youth and sports issues in the OIC ecosystem. He renewed his call to the Member States and their concerned bodies to support the Department of Youth and Sports in carrying out its entrusted tasks. He also called for concerted efforts to implement the OIC resolutions on youth empowerment and activate the OIC Youth Strategy to contribute to achieving the OIC goals in this field.

H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), participated in the first conference for engaging with religious affairs, fatwa, and clerical administrations worldwide under the title: “Communication and Integration,” held under the auspices of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Dawa, and Guidance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in Makkah Al-Mukarramah on Sunday, August 13, 2023.

H.E. Dr. Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah, and Guidance in Saudi Arabia, inaugurated the conference, which the Secretary-General addressed, affirming his pleasure to attend a distinguished intellectual and scientific event dealing with a subject that lies at the heart of the primary mission of the OIC.

Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha said that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of this important conference confirms its position as a real actor in supporting the positive trends of our Ummah and working for its renaissance, mainly as it has succeeded in becoming a destination for tolerance and peaceful coexistence, translating this human value into a tangible approach, in addition to its leadership in promoting interreligious dialogue. The Secretary-General extended his sincere thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and HRH Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for the tremendous support in various fields that contribute to the success of its mission to serve Islam and Muslims.

The Secretary-General stressed that the conference comes considering the many challenges facing the Islamic Ummah, including attempts to distort the image of Islam, which requires standing in the face of these hostile currents and restoring the concept of Islamic unity. Mr. Brahim Taha added that the relationship between the components of the Islamic Ummah must be based on the fact that One Ummah worships One God and has one Shariah that unites and does not divide, bringing us closer and does not separate us.

The Secretary-General indicated that the newly established Department of Dialogue and Outreach in the OIC General Secretariat promotes dialogue, awareness, and openness to all other cultures and civilizations. He also commended the various organs operating under the OIC’s umbrella, led by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), which seeks to consolidate a culture of peace and dialogue and encourage the values of understanding and mutual respect.

On Thursday, August 17, 2023, a delegation from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) visited the People’s Republic of China in response to an invitation. H.E. Mr. Deng Li, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, received the delegation, which was led by Ambassador Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama, the Permanent Representative of Djibouti to the OIC. The delegation comprised permanent delegates and representatives from 25 Member States, including the Chair of the Islamic Summit (Saudi Arabia) and the Council of Foreign Ministers (Mauritania). Officials from the General Secretariat, led by Mr. Yousef Aldobeay, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, were also part of the delegation.

During the meeting, the OIC and its Member States discussed their relations with the People’s Republic of China. Both parties shared their opinions on matters of mutual interest, including the status of the Muslim community in China.

During the delegation’s visit, they met with the Deputy Minister of the Unified Action Front Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. The meeting discussed the strategic partnership between the OIC, its Member States, and the People’s Republic of China. They focused on various fields, including health and education.

The delegation plans to visit Xinjiang to observe the living conditions of the Muslim community in the area.

ICRIC Board of Directors Meeting

18 July 2023

Baku-Azerbaijan

Islamic Chamber Research and Information Centre (ICRIC) Board Members Meeting was held along with the 35^th Meeting of the Board of Directs of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) on 18 July 2023 in Baku-Republic of Azerbaijan.

Dr. Mohammad Reza Karbasi, ICRIC Director General, Mr. Salimi and Mr. Zanganeh Iranian ICRIC Board Members, and the delegate from the Jordon Chamber, as well as the Secretary General of the ICCIA, Dr. Yousef Hassan Khalawi attended the meeting.

At this meeting, ICRIC Director General, Dr. Mohamad Reza Karbasi, presented ICRIC activities report along with the ICRIC future plans.

Islamic Countries Credit Rating System (IC-CRS), Muslim Excellence and Competitiveness Award (ME & C Award), Halal World, Islamic Countries Tourism Chain (ICTC), OIC Networking on SMEs Agencies (ONSA), Islamic World Trade Directory (IWTD) are ICRIC projects.

The next meeting of the ICRIC Board of Directors Meeting will be held along with the 36^th  Meeting of the Board of Directors of the ICCIA in Jordon in 2023.

Following two consecutive quarters of decline, global trade in goods and services rebounded between January and March 2023. But prospects for the rest of the year are bleak.

During the first quarter of 2023, trade growth was positive for both goods and services, according to UNCTAD’s latest Global Trade Update published on 21 June. After the downturn in the second half of 2022, world merchandise trade rebounded in both volume and value.

Over the first three months of 2023, trade in goods went up by 1.9% from the last quarter of 2022, adding about $100 billion. Global services trade also increased by about $50 billion, up by about 2.8% compared to the previous quarter.

For the second quarter of 2023, the UNCTAD nowcast suggests a slowdown in global trade growth, pointing to recently downgraded world economic forecasts and factors such as persistent inflation, financial vulnerabilities, the war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions.

“Overall, the outlook for global trade in the second half of 2023 is pessimistic, as negative factors dominate the positive,” the report says.

Friend-shoring’ and increasing concentration of global trade

Over the last five quarters, the geographical proximity of international trade remained relatively stable, suggesting a lack of significant nearshoring or farshoring trends, at least on average.

Varying trade performance among major economies

The report shows that merchandise trade growth has been mixed among the world’s major economies during the last four quarters.

Brazil, India, the United States and the European Union saw significant increases in both imports and exports.

But on a quarter-over-quarter basis, trade trends for major economies were more subdued between January and March 2023, and in many cases negative. The notable exception is significant growth in exports from China and India.

Regional trade trends

On a yearly basis, all regions saw international trade grow, except for the Russian Federation and central Asian economies.

But the growth in the East Asian region has been significantly below average.

On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the first quarter of 2023 witnessed a decline in the value of trade in most regions, except for the Pacific region, North America and Africa, which experienced marginal growth.

Intra-regional trade during the same period followed similar patterns. But notably, trade within Africa increased by 3%, outperforming other intra-regional trade.

How various sectors fare

Global trade trends over the past four quarters were influenced by the energy sector, where rising prices resulted in higher trade values, until an 11% quarterly drop between January and March 2023.

Other sectors that experienced trade increases were agri-food prod­ucts, apparel, chemicals and road vehicles.

Conversely, trade declined in office and communication equipment, as well as transport, where downward trends continued into the first quarter of 2023.

the source and full report is available at :https://unctad.org/news/global-trade-growth-returns-outlook-2023-poor

In the context of the Islamic Chamber’s goals towards the achievement of the Economic Empowerment and Financial inclusion and support for achieving Economic and Social integration among the member countries through utilizing all the means to support the mechanism of the private sector’s world to conclude agreements between the different parties in the market of the Islamic countries, and on the other hand providing all necessary tools that enhance and catalyze the cooperation between all parties in the private sector in the Member countries, in the files of commerce and trade, ICCIA invite chambers to use ICCIA Business Connect Platform.

This platform aims to stimulate and facilitate the work of trade and development of trade and investment cooperation between all member countries in the private sector by providing al technical and logistical means for business people to develop and conclude agreements and partnerships.

The function of this platform is :

-organizing business to business meetings and/ or events in Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, KSA,

– Provide consultation regarding the sectors of interests to the involved parties,

– Facilitate the communication and the coordination between the involved parties,

– Promote the successful collaboration all over the 57 member countries,

– Provide feasibility studies upon request from to the involved parties,

– Develop collaboration between the related media agencies/ journals for wider scope and publicity,

– Provide translation, if needed during the meeting

All the premises of the ICCIA either in the headquarters in Pakistan, the regional offices in the Arab Republic of Egypt, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Turkey, are available to utilize- upon request- by the members to hold B2B meeting, whenever they are visiting these countries in collaboration with ICCIA member chambers in those countries.

Service that member chambers will receive are consisting of:

• Delegation of mutual sector companies representatives,
• Delegation of entities such as international/ local organizations from selected country,
• Venue of the meeting at ICCIA headquarters or regional offices premises ,
• Website/social media promotion for the meeting on all platforms of ICCIA,
• Photos,
• Meeting duration=2 hours.

The country’s young people are chasing their entrepreneurial dreams amid a digitalization boom powered by e-government tools developed by UNCTAD.

Not everyone can turn the theft of a cell phone into a good experience. But then again, not everyone is Richard Odjrado. When this young Beninese entrepreneur’s phone was stolen – for a second time – he transformed calamity into ingenuity.

Mr. Odjrado, 34, has created a revolutionary anti-theft tracker for smartphones that alerts the owner if the phone is moved without their permission, enabling them to locate it if it’s lost or stolen. The tracker is also operated from a smart watch he’s designed.

He spent nearly two years researching and developing his anti-theft solution before launching his company AS World Tech, which also makes glasses and laptops.

Boom for registrations

Between 2019 and 2022 the number of young people opening new businesses in Benin skyrocketed, more than tripling from 7,416 registrations to 23,312.

“That’s growth of 212%,” says Laurent Gangbes, chief executive of the Agency for the Promotion of Investments and Exports (APIEx) in Benin, who’s behind an initiative to digitize government services and make it easier to do business in the West African nation.

The boom is powered by low-code software developed by UNCTAD, and “demonstrates a national demand for digital services that support entrepreneurial ambitions,” Mr. Gangbes added.

UNCTAD explores how developing countries can leverage green, innovative technologies to grow their economies while fighting climate change.

Science, technology and innovation (STI) tools are indispensable in tackling today’s pressing challenges such as climate change, which need global solutions.

That’s the message from UNCTAD ahead of the 26th session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), slated for 27 to 31 March in Geneva and online. UNCTAD provides substantive support to the CSTD.

The tools include green technologies – goods and services with smaller carbon footprints – that present new opportunities. “These opportunities not only offer the chance to build resilience and mitigate climate disaster, but also to spur economic and technological development,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan.

Ms. Grynspan will open the event during a segment to be livestreamed on UN Web TV and UNCTAD Facebook starting 8.30 a.m. GMT on 27 March.

The CSTD session will bring together government ministers, policymakers, international organizations and leading experts. They will discuss two main themes: “Technology and innovation for cleaner and more productive competitive production” and “Ensuring safe water and sanitation for all”.

Participants will take stock of the progress made towards implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) regionally and internationally. They will also discuss ongoing STI policy reviews by UNCTAD and cooperation projects to facilitate access to key technologies in developing countries.

A conversation with ‘great minds’

The event will feature “a conversation with great minds”, a special segment with two world-class scientists, focused on prioritizing research and development for climate action.

They are Hiroshi Amano, who won the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing efficient light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and Karen Scrivener, a material chemist known for her pioneering work in decarbonizing cement.

Julia Sieger, a journalist and presenter with France 24, will moderate the conversation.

Need to close the green tech gap

The meeting will underline the urgent need for international support for developing countries to benefit more from green technologies such as electric vehicles, solar and wind energy.

UNCTAD’s Technology and Innovation Report 2023 estimates that such technologies will quadruple their market value to $2.1 trillion by 2030. Notably, market revenues for electric vehicles could increase five times to reach $824 billion, up from today’s $163 billion.

Meanwhile, frontier technologies like artificial intelligence and Internet of Things can spur cleaner and more competitive production, help diversify economies, create higher-wage jobs and catalyse economic growth, while curbing climate change.

As developed countries currently reap most of the economic benefits of green technologies, international solidarity is critical for developing countries to catch up.

“As developing countries respond to today’s interconnected crises, strategic, long-term actions to build innovation and technological capabilities will be key to achieving sustainable economic growth and resilience to future shocks,” said Shamika N. Sirimanne, UNCTAD’s technology and logistics director, who also heads the CSTD Secretariat.

“They need both domestic policies and international cooperation to reap the benefits of the current technological revolution.”

UN focal point for STI for development

The CSTD is the UN’s “torch-bearer and focal point for science, technology and innovation for development.” It analyses how STI, including emerging and disruptive technologies, can accelerate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for everyone, everywhere.

It’s a forum for strategic planning and knowledge-sharing, providing foresight about critical STI trends in key sectors with an impact on the economy, environment and societies.