Turkish minister calls for OIC customs harmonization

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Islamic trading partners should harmonize their customs procedures, Turkey’s development minister said on Wednesday.

Lutfi Elvan was speaking in Ankara at a meeting of COMCEC, a branch of the 57-country Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

OIC states should “simplify and harmonize” customs to save on time and costs, “so that they can achieve higher levels of competitiveness and trade volumes," Elvan said.

The two-day meeting in the Turkish capital is to set the agenda for a larger summit in November this year.

Elvan said members had surpassed a 20-percent target for intra-OIC trade, reaching 21.4 percent in 2015 on the back of fluctuations in oil prices.

However, the Turkish minister said members could not rely on a single commodity or raw materials alone in their economic and commercial achievements, therefore economic reform was a necessity.

"Now, we have a new goal of realizing 25 percent intra-OIC trade, to be achieved by 2025. With staunch and resolute efforts, I am confident that we can reach and even go beyond this target within this period," Elvan said.

He added that some member countries, whose trade volume with OIC members was lower, needed to develop national strategies and programs to enhance their performance with other Muslim nations.

"As OIC member countries, even if we cannot produce and export high-tech products in the short run, we need to continue our endeavors. At least, we can strive to process raw materials locally and we can produce the equipment to be used within the country," Elvan said.

Elvan added that their work on establishing web-based gold trading, clearing platforms and real estate electronic platforms were important to OIC members’ financial cooperation.

COMCEC was established by the Third Islamic Summit Conference held in Mecca and Taif in Saudi Arabia in 1981 to address the common development problems.

The IOC currently has 57 members as well as five observer countries on four continents.