Muslim nations edge towards free trade area

21 June 2005

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia) — Muslim nations moved closer to forming a free trade area yesterday, with plans to adopt tariff-cutting steps by end-2005 to bridge a gap between oil-rich and poor members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

“This is an important first step towards the larger goal of greater economic integration among the OIC countries,” the group’s chairman, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, told an OIC trade forum.

One of the biggest challenges facing the grouping of Muslim nations is the vast economic disparities among its 57 members, Abdullah told the forum in Malaysia’s administrative capital.

The OIC includes Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, UAE and Kuwait — which together possess 700 billion barrels of proven oil reserves — as well as poor countries such as Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh.

Abdullah said OIC countries were negotiating to establish a preferential trading system to boost trade with each other.

“The protocol is expected to be finalised in November,” Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said.

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