COMCEC Transport and Communications
Outlook 2018
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1. INTRODUCTION
There is a strong emphasis on transportation sector within the OIC (Organization of Islamic
Cooperation) framework. First of all, one of three principles of the COMCEC Strategy, which is
enhancing mobility, is directly related to transport. Secondly, transportation is explicitly
affirmed as one of the three priority sectors by the COMCEC along with agriculture and tourism.
Thirdly, it is one of the six cooperation areas specified by the COMCEC Strategy besides trade,
tourism, agriculture, poverty alleviation, and finance.
Such an emphasis on the transport sector is not surprising, since it is crucial for economic and
social development of the nations. From the point of view of households, people spend
considerable time and money for traveling to fulfil a wide variety of purposes such as business,
education, shopping, vacation, and socializing. According to Eurostat statistics, transportation
activities account for 4.6% of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 4.5% of its total
employment (European Commission 2013). In addition, transport expenditures correspond to
13.2% of a household's budget on average within the EU as of 2012 (Eurostat 2012).
Problems and challenges associated with the transport industry are just as big as the transport
industry itself. Regarding transportation infrastructure, developed countries try tomaintain and
improve their transportation network while developing and the least developed countries aim
at developing a transport infrastructure to meet their basic needs. With respect to
transportation finance and privatization, almost all countries suffer from insufficient public
budgets and inefficient provision of transport services through public ownership and
management. From environmental point of view, transportation is one of the biggest sources of
greenhouse gas emissions and the rate of increase in transport emissions is quite high. In
addition to these problems, other outstanding challenges like increasing traffic congestion,
problems associated with the transportation safety and security, the lack of transit services are
also noteworthy. Revealing these current challenges facing transportation sector, this brief
Outlook, through a focused approach, attempts to provide an overview on how OIC countries
are performing in terms of transport and telecommunication sector.
The analyses within this Outlook include comparisons between the OIC countries and other
regions such as the European Union (EU), Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific,
and th (OECD). For more detailed
analysis, the OIC countries were divided into geographical regions such as OIC-MENA (Middle
East and North Africa), OIC-Asia, and OIC-Sub-Saharan Africa when deemed necessary. Further
information on this geographical classification is available at Table A.1 in the Appendix.
Information and communication technologies (ICT) is another critical area for economic and
social development of countries. Radical developments in ICT during the second half of the 20 th
century have significantly changed the way information is gathered, stored, processed and
transferred and thus accelerated the process of transformation into information society.