OIC to shift ICCI’s head office to Qatar

Citing security concerns as the reason, the members of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) has decided to shift the headquarters of Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) from Pakistan to Qatar. The ICCI’s General Assembly chose Qatar as the new headquarter through a resolution and decided to host the July 2012 meetings of the statute of the Chamber in Doha.
The decision was made after the attack on Saudi Embassy in Karachi, killing of Osama Bin Ladin in Abbottababd and other terrorist attacks in the country, sources said. The 12th meeting of the ICCI’s Board of Directors and the 27th General Assembly meeting, held in Amman, Jordan and attended by more than 28 federations of chambers of commerce and industry from various countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference, passed the resolution unanimously. The issue of changing the venue was raised by some Middle Eastern countries, especially Egypt and Saudi Arabia, sources told Pakistan Today, adding that Pakistani authorities objected to the move, saying that there was no threat to OIC to Pakistan.
ICCI, however, agreed to keep the Headquarters of the Chamber in Pakistan with minimum staff while the main decisions and funding for the Doha office would be provided by Qatar. It has been decided that “All activities and works will be practiced from the new headquarters in Doha till taking final decision after year on transferring the permanent headquarters”. The Board of Directors meeting has further decided to appoint Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al Thani, Chairman of Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry (QCCI) as a Vice-President of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The meeting was attended by board members representatives of the institutions in OIC countries including include: Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Benin, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, the Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, Palestine, Organization of Islamic Conference, Niger, Oman and Jordan.