The 16th Board of Directors and 29th General Assembly of Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industries would be held in Iran, IRNA reported.
The Head of Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Iran, Mohammad Nahavandian announced the news in an interview with IRNA Wednesday night after the closing of the 28th General Assembly meeting of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in Istanbul.
He said, "At the end of today's gathering it was decided that the 15th General Assembly meeting of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) would be held in October, 2012 in Karachi, Pakistan, and the 16th one would be hosted by our country and held in Tehran."
Focusing on the issues discussed at the 14th General Assembly of the OIC member countries chambers of commerce and industries, Nahavandian reiterated, "The participants at this gathering, held in the presence of Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arnich, and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsan Oglu, the amendments of the ICCI Letter of Association were approved."
The Head of Chamber of Commerce and Industries of Iran said that among the amendments made, there was electing the members of this Chambers Board of Managers based on geographical regions, adding, "According to the articles of the new Letter of Association of the ICCI, also the participants in this gathering agreed that the head of the Islamic Countries Chamber of Commerce and Industries would be appointed for maximum two four-year terms, and thus the unlimited chairmanship of the chamber was annulled."
Nahavandian further reiterated, "The participants at the ICCI General Assembly also announced their agreement with membership of the Muslim members of non-Islamic countries' chambers and trade unions at the ICCI."
He reiterated, "At this gathering also Iran proposed that the OIC would have a tourism and health association, and it was decided that the details on the establishment of such an organ would be handed out among the 18 OIC member countries' representatives.
The head of Iran's Chamber of Commerce and Industries referred to the active presence of representatives from Libya and Afghanistan at the gathering, reiterating, "Thus far the representatives of Afghanistan and Libya had a marginal presence at such gatherings, but this time they were quite dynamic."
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) President Rifat Hisarciklioglu emphasized on Wednesday the importance of taking concrete steps to increase economic cooperation and investments between Muslim countries.
Speaking to participants at the 28th General Assembly meeting of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in Istanbul, Hisarciklioglu described the transformation taking place in global politics and economics, as well as developments in the Middle East and North Africa. "As private sector representatives from our countries, we have a major role to take on. Our countries are full of entrepreneurs who are looking for investment opportunities," he said.
Noting that the economic costs of conflicts and tensions in Middle Eastern countries have been estimated at a whopping $12 trillion since 1991, Hisarciklioglu explained: "Muslim countries have missed opportunities since then, while dealing with ongoing issues. We must move faster to catch up with the world and increase mutual investments. In order to increase employment in our countries, we need to focus on production, mutual investments and trade, as well as entrepreneurship."
Highlighting the potential of the young and dynamic populations in Muslim countries -- which account for a quarter of the world -- as compared to an aging European population, the president said: "This is not a disadvantage by any means. We must use our rich resources to educate and train the youth and women of our countries to enable them to enter the workforce, making them the producers of tomorrow."
He also stressed the need for more Muslim countries to play an important role in the world economy. "Only Indonesia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia represent Muslim countries in the G-20. By working together, cooperatively, we can ensure mutual benefits and become the voice of 1.5 billion Muslims," he added.
Hisarciklioglu said there are plenty of opportunities to conduct trade and added that establishing a transportation network within the region is necessary for commodity transportation.
ICCI President Shaikh Saleh Kamel noted that their goal is to develop Muslim countries and called on governments to cooperate with them and help the ICCI achieve its targets.
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinch emphasized the importance of contributions from the ICCI towards improving ties between private sectors in Muslim countries. He said Turkey will continue to support the people's demands for democracy throughout the entire Middle East region and work with their leaders to address economic issues.