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15. Following the Inaugural Statement made by H.E. ERDOĞAN, the Secretary
General of the OIC made a statement.
16. His Excellency Dr. Yousef Al-OTHAIMEEN, the Secretary General of the OIC,
thanked the Government of the Republic of Turkey for excellent preparations
made for this virtual meeting. H.E. Al-OTHAIMEEN stated that the negative
economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on trade of goods, services, transport
and global tourism, will further lead to an increase in unemployment levels and
poverty in the member countries of the OIC.
17. In this framework, H.E. Al-OTHAIMEEN stressed that OIC has mobilized all
its resources and institutions in order to support its members in establishing
national plans for mitigating the economic, financial and social effects of the
pandemic. H.E. Al-OTHAIMEEN called upon the member countries having
surplus of resources to share with the member countries in need so they would
better face with the consequences of pandemic. In this respect, H.E. Al-
OTHAIMEEN, underlined the significance of coordination, solidarity,
complementarity and mutual support among the member countries. Al-
OTHAIMEEN commended all the Member States that have continued to
support the activities of the OIC, including the contribution to various OIC
projects, hosting of OIC several events, signing and ratification of the OIC
agreements in the economic domain.
18. The Heads of Delegations of Kuwait, Nigeria and Bangladesh made statements
on behalf of Arab, African and Asian Geographical Groups of the OIC regions
during the Opening Ceremony. They expressed their gratitude for the excellent
preparations for the virtual meeting and extended their condolences for the
victims of the devastating earthquake in Izmir. Highlighting the importance of
Tourism sector in terms of its direct links to other sectors such as transportation,
food, accommodation and finance, the Head of Delegation of Kuwait
emphasized, among others, the urgent need for finding solutions to the
difficulties emanating from the pandemic and the recovery from its damage. The
Head of Delegation of Nigeria, after mentioning how COVID 19 pandemic
slowed down the economic growth of OIC, stressed the necessity of exploring
ways and means to increase social entrepreneurship for the growth in tourism
sector and welcomed the efforts towards making Africa the most preferred
tourism destination. The Head of Delegation of Bangladesh also mentioned the
negative effects of COVID 19 on economy and the policy measures taken for
mitigation negative effects of pandemic in Bangladesh and underlined the
support given by Bangladesh to the main OIC projects such as TPS-OIC. He
also underlined that the member countries may enhance their cooperation in the
field of Information Technologies (IT).
19. Furthermore, Mikayil JABBAROV, Minister of Economy of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, delivered a statement in the opening ceremony. H.E. JABBAROV
highlighted the importance and the support they attach to economic cooperation
among OIC member states. H.E. JABBAROV also emphasized the significance