LAHORE, March 15: Delegates from various Muslim countries have arrived to participate in the third meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Task Force on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) starting from Tuesday.

The three-day conference being held under the aegis of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) will be opened by Federal Industries and Production Minister Liaquat Jatoi.

A Smeda spokesman said on Monday delegates to the conference from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mozambique, Cote d'Ivoire, Thailand, Bahrain, Lebanon, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Yemen and Bangladesh had already arrived, while the delegates from other OIC member countries were expected to reach later in the night.

He said the meeting would have four working sessions. The concluding session would be presided over by Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool.

Among others, the inaugural session would be addressed by CEO and director-general of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector of the Islamic Development Bank Group Dr Ali Soliman, OIC ambassador Javed Ashraf Husain and Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary-general Aqueel A Jassem. The delegates would also visit the SME exhibition in Gujranwala on Wednesday.