Annex 3 to OIC/COMCEC/36-20/REP
81
Original: Arabic
SPEECH OF H.E. DR. YOUSEF BIN AHMAD AL-OTHAIMEEN,
SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION
OF ISLAMIC COOPERATION (OIC)
AT THE 36th SESSION OF THE OIC STANDING COMMITTEE FOR
ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL COOPERATION(COMCEC)
Videoconference Format
(23-26 November 2020)
Your Excellency Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the Republic of
Turkey and Chairman of COMCEC,
Honorable Ministers and Distinguished Heads of Delegation,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatihu
It is a great honour and privilege for me to address the 36th Session of the OIC
Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC), which
is taking place via a virtual platform due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. I wish to express
my sincere gratitude to His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of the
Republic of Turkey and the chair of COMCEC, for supporting OIC activities and
programs, especially in the economic domain. In the same vein, I wish also to thank the
Government and people of the Republic of Turkey for the excellent arrangements made
for the success of our today’s virtual meeting.
I would also like to take this opportunity to convey my heartfelt condolences to
the President of the Republic of Turkey and to all the families of victims of the
earthquake in Izmir as well as I wish a speedy recovery to all injured.
The 36th Session of COMCEC is holding in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic
and we are facing severe challenges to overcome socio-economic and humanitarian
crisis caused by the pandemic. Consequently, the global trade declined considerably
due to the measures taken to prevent or to slow down the contamination of the COVID-
19 and the global merchandise trade volumes declined by 14.3 percent in the second
quarter of 2020 compared to the previous period.