RIYADH, May 16: The Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) is striving to boost trade within the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) from its current level of 13 per cent. As part of a multi-pronged drive in that direction, the ICCI intends to organize trade fairs and cultural festivals, so as to promote the intra-OIC trade.

Sheikh Saleh Kamel, the newly chairman of ICCI, in his first meeting with newsmen at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry emphasized on the need to promote trade within the Islamic bloc and the measures his organization intended to take to ensure that. Earlier, Kamel had an audience with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah to seek his support in overcoming the challenges facing the Islamic chamber.

Sheikh Kamel told the newsmen he would seek to capitalize on the strengths of the Islamic bloc by making use of the complementarity of the resources and opportunities in the region. However, he clarified he would leave it to the member states to decide how best to achieve the target within the framework of the objectives.

Acknowledging the challenges faced by the ICCI, the newly-elected chief said he would seek to capitalize on their strengths of the member states for pushing forward intra-regional trade. “The factors that unite the member countries outweigh those that divide them. I shall strive to build on their strengths.” In this context, he mulled organizing Islamic trade fairs as a means of facilitating greater interaction among traders and consumers. Kamel also floated the idea of holding cultural festivals among the member states as part of his strategy for reaching out to the people.

Among the factors inhibiting the growth of intra-OIC trade, Kamel said, was the lack of a free trade zones. This subjected the member states’ products to a crippling taxation regime. The ICCI chief reminded the member states that it was time to dismantle the trade barriers.