Banjul, May 5 (MAP/GNA) – His Majesty King Mohammed VI insisted on the need to devote more attention and care to the least developed African Member Countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in order to help them rise to the various challenges affecting their development and progress.
“Given that the Kingdom of Morocco is itself an African nation, and considering my country’s close, longstanding human ties and age-old spiritual bonds with African sister countries, I wish to insist on the need to devote more attention and care to the least developed OIC African Member Countries in order to help them rise to the various challenges affecting their development and progress,” said the Sovereign in a speech to the 15th OIC Summit Conference being held on May 4-5 in Banjul, Republic of The Gambia.
HM the King underlined in His speech, which was read out by the Minister of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Ahmed Toufiq, at the solemn opening ceremony of the Islamic Summit, that these countries are facing increasing threats to their energy and food security as well as to their economic growth, adding that this situation is having a negative impact on their stability and is worsening their social and economic conditions.
Highlighting the importance of South-South cooperation, the Sovereign recalled the launch of the Atlantic Initiative as a platform for African partnership, whose main goal is to strengthen cooperation and integration between the African countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean and thus promote peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region.
“I have also announced the launching of an initiative at the international level to enable the countries of the Sahel to have access to the Atlantic Ocean,” adds His Majesty the King, noting that the Morocco-Nigeria Gas Pipeline project is rooted in the same spirit of solidarity, since it is a project designed to promote regional integration, a joint economic take-off and a genuine industrial dynamic in the Atlantic region.
The Sovereign also pointed out that this Islamic Summit is being held at a time when several regions in the Islamic world are still experiencing political and military tensions as well as challenges to their security, adding that this situation is having adverse effects on people’s living conditions in a number of OIC Member States, especially in Africa.
“Our Organization and its specialized agencies are therefore called upon to strive doubly hard through their efforts and initiatives to assist these countries, in keeping with the spirit of brotherhood and solidarity among Muslims, making sure they benefit from the development programs and plans endorsed by our summits and meetings,” underlines the Sovereign.
HM the King also believes that “expanding the scope of joint Islamic action and investing in the national capabilities of our countries require a realistic, constructive assessment of the mechanisms used in implementing our Organization’s work programme.”
HM the King stressed the need to upgrade the legal framework to make sure it is adapted to the needs of our societies in the areas of investment and trade, and enabling productive sectors to achieve the economic integration required, underscoring that the OIC members are not immune to what is happening around them, as they are facing serious, next-generation challenges, as reflected by new economic, political, security, environmental and health crises.
The Sovereign therefore called on the Organization’s members to shore up their ability to respond to these challenges and adapt, on a continuous basis, to the turmoil affecting the world economy due to the pressure on global supply chains resulting from wars and the threat to maritime shipping lanes.
HM the King said that meeting the challenges of sustainable, comprehensive human development and attaining economic well-being require exploring opportunities for complementarity and integration so as to achieve common benefits and implement the objectives under the eighteen priority areas of the next ten-year program of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
“Chief among these is increasing the share of intra-regional trade in member countries’ foreign trade relations, and removing obstacles which hinder the promotion of commerce between OIC Member Countries,” said the Sovereign, expressing His firm believe that the Organization’s countries – taken individually or as regional groupings – have the natural and human resources that enable them to achieve the status of a bloc that fosters knowledge and promotes stability and prosperity, for their own benefit and that of their surroundings and the world at large.
HM the King added that the Organization is a space within which the Ummah innovates, plans, acts and comes together to implement practical projects, keeping in mind the ultimate ambition of ensuring international peace and security, sustainable development, progress and collective well-being.
The Sovereign also recalled that the OIC saw the light of day 55 years ago, in the Kingdom of Morocco, and that its founders did not mean to set up a religious organization.
Rather, the project was rooted in a belief in the need to disseminate the teachings of a pristine religion and of universal human values as a way to mobilize people, make the voice of Islamic countries heard, and achieve genuine, practical solidarity, said the Sovereign, noting that “the concept of solidarity we yearn for today does not stop at defending the integrity and unity of our faith with words and good intentions.”
This concept “also includes ensuring respect for pluralism and the particularities of nations, fostering trust and focusing on collective work,” said HM the King.
GNA/Credit: MAP