Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Muslim countries should use their national currency in trade settlements to overcome dependence on the US dollar and other world currencies, the Turkish media cited President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as saying on Nov. 28.
President Erdogan made the remarks at the meeting of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
The president also stressed that if Muslim countries do not use their national currency in mutual trade, then sooner or later they will face economic crisis.
In 2017 the trade turnover between the OIC countries increased by $44 billion and amounted to $322.2 billion compared to 2016, OIC told Trend earlier.
In 2017, the total trade turnover between the OIC countries and other countries amounted to $3.2 trillion.
“The main countries that have played an important role in increasing domestic trade turnover within the OIC are Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Egypt and Iraq,” OIC said.
The OIC member-states have great potential for increasing trade turnover.
“To increase trade turnover between the OIC countries, customs privileges should be applied for the OIC member-states,” OIC said.
-----
Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu