COMCEC Trade Outlook 2016
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objectives, the Strategy brings two newwell defined implementation instruments, namely Trade
Working Group and the COMCEC Project Cycle Management (PCM).
Trade Working Group convenes regularly twice in Ankara on different specific themes that
possess crucial importance for the Member Countries. Main objective of the Trade Working
Group meetings are; producing and disseminating knowledge, sharing experience and good
practices among the Member Countries. The Working Group also aims to serve as an effective
intermediary for creating a common understanding and approximating policies among the
Member Countries to respond to their common development problems. To enrich discussions
during the Working Group Meetings, analytical studies on the theme of the respective meetings
and Sectoral Outlook report are prepared by the CCO and conveyed to the Member Countries at
least one month prior to each meeting. As of August 2015, five rounds of Working Group
Meetings were successfully organized.
The first meeting of the Trade Working Group was held on June 20th, 2013 with the theme of
“Promoting the SMEs Exports in the OIC Member States: The Role of Trade Promotion
Organizations (TPOs)”. The meeting provided an opportunity for the Member States to share
their achievements and obstacles in promoting SMEs exports and benefit from the experience
of the other Member States and relevant international institutions.
The second meeting of the Trade Working Group was held in October 31th, 2013 with the theme
of “Improving SMEs Access to Trade Finance in the OIC Member States”. Experts from the Member
States as well as international organizations deliberated on the current status of the SMEs in
terms of accessing trade finance in the OICMember States, the instruments used in trade finance,
role of public financial institutions and share of Islamic trade finance tools in the OIC member
countries. The detailed information regarding the outcomes of the COMCEC Trade Working
Groups is available on the COMCEC website .
The third meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was convened on February 27th, 2014
with the title “Facilitating Intra-OIC Trade: Improving the Efficiency of the Customs Procedures.”
The Meeting reviewed the global trends and best practices in the area of customs modernization
and evaluated the efficiency of the customs procedures in the Member States. Moreover, the
Meeting also discusses the ways and means of improving the cargo clearance procedures.
The fourth meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on October 23rd, 2014 with
the theme of “ Preferential Trade Agreements and Trade Liberalization Efforts in the OIC Member
States with Special emphasis on the TPS-OIC”. The trade liberalization efforts and successful
trade preferential agreements worldwide while examining the current status in the OIC Member
States was reviewed in the Meeting.
The fifth meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on March 26th, 2015 with the
theme of “Improving the Role of Eximbanks in the OIC Member States ”. Participants from 17
Member Countries as well as international organizations shared their experiences,
achievements and challenges in the Meeting with a view to establish policy advises for both
establishing well-functioning institutions and improving effectiveness of the present structures.
The sixth meeting of the COMCEC Trade Working Group was held on September 17th, 2015 with
the theme of “EstablishingWell-Functioning National Trade Facilitation Bodies in the OICMember
Countries”. Exchange of opinions and discussions were made on the National Trade Facilitation