RIYADH — Minister of Commerce and Chairman of the General Authority for Foreign Trade Dr. Majid Abdullah Al-Qasabi stressed the importance of doubling efforts among Islamic nations and members of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) to expand cooperation aspects in all economic fields.

In his speech, while heading Saudi Arabia's delegation to the 38th session of COMCEC held in Istanbul, Al-Qasabi said that realizing economic and development integration among Islamic countries requires maximizing benefits from the potential and capabilities of Islamic countries that are connected with religions, brotherhood and joint fate to face challenges threatening the whole world.

On the sidelines of the visit to Turkiye, Al-Qasabi held several bilateral meetings with officials from Turkiye, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia.

He, in addition, met with Islamic Development Bank Group President Dr. Mohammed Al-Jasser, Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture President Abdullah Kamel, Federation of Turkish Chambers of Commerce President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu and other representatives of major Turkish companies.

Earlier, Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated the work of the 38th session of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC), in the presence of Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha, the relevant ministers of the member states, ambassadors and heads of delegations.

In his speech, the Turkish president stressed the importance of supporting the OIC's activities, while the OIC Secretary General called on all member states to consolidate the spirit of solidarity between them, and the importance of establishing a fund to finance emerging projects to support and encourage innovative youth projects in various economic fields.

The IDB chief Dr. Mohammed too delivered a speech in which he touched on the current programs of the bank, and the allocation of $10.54 billion for the Comprehensive Response to Food Security Program, which aims to support the efforts of the member states of the organization to face security challenges.

The session reviewed a number of programs within the framework of the COMCEC, including trade, investment, agriculture, tourism and financial development. — SPA