The meeting of the Board of Directors of ICRIC with the presence of the Chairman of the Board of ICRIC Dr. Selahvarzi, the Secretary General of the Islamic Chamber Dr. Khalawi, the Director General of ICRIC Dr. Karbasi and the Iranian members of the Board of Directors and the new foreign members of the Board of Directors from Turkey, Egypt and Benin was held on 16 December 2023 in Doha, Qatar.
At the beginning of the meeting, the chairman of the board of directors, while expressing gratitude to the host of Doha Meeting and welcoming the new foreign members from Egypt, Turkey and Benin, declared that holding such international meetings is very useful and in line with strengthening the cooperation between Islamic countries. He introduced ICRIC as affiliated to the Islamic Chamber committed to establishing cooperation links with organizations affiliated to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in order to introduce the economic capacities of the Islamic world and the private sector of the OIC.
The Director General of ICRIC also thanked the Islamic Chamber for all the arrangements made, the constructive comments regarding ICRIC’s plans for 2024 and the presence of the members in this meeting. He further gave explanations about the progress of ICRIC projects and programs, including Halal, the Islamic Countries Tourism Chain, the OIC Network of Small and Medium sized Enterprises, the Islamic World Trade Directory, the Islamic Countries Competitiveness Ranking System, and the Muslim Excellency Award.
Signing a memorandum of understanding with the Islamic Chamber Halal Service of the and establishing joint cooperation in the field of issuing Halal certificates and identifying Halal centers in Islamic countries, establishing a Halal reference laboratory in one of the Islamic countries and establishing its branches in other OIC member countries, and hosting the Fifth Health Tourism Conference of Islamic Countries in Iran in 2024 is among ICRIC’s programs.
Furthermore, following Iran’s proposal regarding the establishment of a common Islamic market at the 39th meeting of the Islamic Chamber General Assembly on 16 Dec 2023, Dr. Selahvarzi provided additional explanations in this regard. He announced the readiness of ICRIC to prepare a proposal related to this project and present it in the 40th meeting of the General Assembly and emphasized the need for cooperation and participation of countries in this field.
Among the subjects that should be studied and investigated is the feasibility study of the plan and the evaluation of the economic, social, and political consequences. It is also necessary to analyze the potential benefits, challenges and effects on different economic sectors of the countries. Its legal and institutional framework should be specified to oblige the countries to comply with the laws through the signing of an international treaty and specify the regulations governing it. In addition to determining the governing body, the role of countries and the responsibilities of each in this treaty and laws should be clearly defined.
Emphasizing the importance of the role of ICRIC as the research arm of the Islamic Chamber, Dr. Khalawi welcomed the presented programs and projects and expressed readiness for the cooperation of the secretariat of the Islamic chamber in the relevant fields.
The board approved of the proposed programs presented as well as the operational plan of 2024 as presented at the meeting. Also, sharing of ICRIC rules and regulations and the activities carried out by this center with the new members was emphasized.
The next meeting of the Board of Directors of ICRIC will be held in Jordan.