would be talking about the Islamic economy. The media in the Islamic world should be much more proactive and committed to take a leading role in giving the right information on the Islamic world, not just confined to talking about political issues. They should explore economic issues more. Can you please briefly explain the reason behind the creation of the OIC International Business Centre, as well as why it was chosen to be located here in Malaysia? OIC International Business Centre is a Malaysian-based business centre. When Malaysia took over the OIC chairmanship in 2003, I was appointed to see how to increase inter-trade. So we came up with a company for that specific purpose. We also formed the Malaysian OIC Trade Chamber. So this company is focused towards seeing that OIC countries increase intra-trade. I think that the OIC countries are comfortable with Malaysian culture and the political stability here. Malaysia is also more liberal. So I think that the only country today that can speak for the Islamic world is Malaysia. Our first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, was instrumental in the OIC. He was the first one to call for an Islamic Conference in 1969 over the Palestine issue. He was also appointed as the first Secretary General of the OIC. So even our first Prime Minister was already involved in Islamic interests, and Malaysia from 1969 was already a major global Islamic player, and has continued from there. Tun Mahathir
has also done some serious rebranding such as talking about the gold dinar and calling for Islamic countries to play a greater role globally, followed by Tun Abdullah Badawi and now Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak. Malaysia wants to see Muslims worldwide have a better living standard. The OIC Summit in 2003 allowed for a serious look at the OIC body, and today Malaysia has transformed the OIC paradigm. What are the aims and achievements of the OIC International Business Centre so far? We know very well that Islamic countries are rich in resources and commodities but the intra-trade between them is not vibrant. So when Malaysia took over the chairmanship of the OIC in 2003, we wanted to tell the whole world that it’s high time for Islamic countries to increase the intra-trade among them. The total world Muslim population is about two billion. The population of the OIC countries is 1.6 to 1.7 billion. Based on the population of the OIC countries, 60 per cent of the OIC countries are still a very poor ummah who live on USD1 to 2 a day. So we want to rebrand OIC countries into a stronger economic power. The whole thing can take place only when someone takes a strong leading role. In 2003, we were the first to publish the official OIC trade directory, which we launched and gave free distribution to all OIC countries. In it we gave trade facts on 57 OIC countries. That gave them the upper hand necessary to increase intra-trade. So the role of the OIC International Business Centre is mainly
“From 2003 to today, there has been an increment of 10 per cent in the intra-trade between OIC countries. That means OIC International Business Centre has made a serious rebranding of OIC from a mainly political body into an economic body.”
to provide information to Islamic countries in terms of education, tourism, oil and gas, trade, Islamic banking and others to assist Islamic countries to aggressively increase intratrade and decrease poverty. The intra-trade among the OIC countries in 2003 was only seven per cent. When Malaysia took over the chairmanship and tried to change that, today the intra-trade is 17 per cent. From 2003 to today, there has been an increment of 10 per cent in the intra-trade between OIC countries. That means OIC International Business Centre has made a serious rebranding of OIC from a mainly political body into an economic body. So we made a serious transformation by providing information. We also have several publications such as OIC Trade, OIC Oil and Gas and OIC Education. All the products have
one single objective – to increase intra-trade among OIC countries and share expertise. We also organise conferences, expos and trade fairs, such as the Muslims BIG (Business & Investment Gala) in June this year. What are the future plans for the OIC International Business Centre? OIC International is doing a lot of international business and we’re trying to persuade other OIC countries to have an organisation similar to OIC International Business Centre and to pool their strength together. We hope to set up the OIC International Business Centre in every OIC country, and an International Islamic, Economic & Investment Centre in Malaysia so that Malaysia becomes the nerve centre of the Islamic economy. The Halal Journal | Jul+Aug 2010 |
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