An OIC Trade Coordination Centre will be established at the LCCI to facilitate contacts between the Chambers of the member countries. This was stated by the LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh while addressing a Press conference here in the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry. LCCI Senior Vice President Kashif Younis Meher, Convener OIC Committee Husnain Reza Mirza and Co-Convener Mehmood Ghazanvi also spoke on the occasion. The LCCI President said that at the recently held OIC Ambassadors Conference, it was approved that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry would be used as the Secretariat of this Coordination Centre while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will formally inform the OIC and ICCI Headquarters and will get it confirmed by the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM).
Irfan Qaiser Sheikh said that the OIC Ambassadors had also recommended an economic summit of the OIC Countries involving the private sectors should also be arranged three to four months time. He said that the summit would consider setting up of single currency, a common bank and a trading bloc on the pattern of European Union that would be a great achievement by all means. The LCCI President said that it was also recommended that the OIC members should ratify and make operational the Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and facilitate intra-OIC trade for the establishment of OIC common market. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, government of Pakistan, will also request to the Islamic Development Bank to financially support the research projects of the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
