Senior officials of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA) headed by Secretary General Mr. Yousef Khalawi and Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS) led by Director General Mr. Yerlan Baidaulet held a videoconference meeting on 16 June 2020 to exchange information, explore joint actions for promotion of food security in OIC member states in the wake of the coronavirus spread (COVID-19) and discuss opportunities for joint actions for the second half of 2020.
Both sides agreed, given this unfavorable state of affairs, there is a need for concerted efforts among state, international and corporate stakeholders within the Muslim World to pool resources to address the debilitating effects of COVID19 pandemic, especially in the area of food security, owing to the substantial disruptions in food supply chain, food shortages and food price spikes. Accordingly, trade and investment in the food and agriculture sector feature prominently in both the immediate and medium terms and would require closer collaboration between two institutions.
The meeting was very informative and productive. The parties also discussed the joint actions for second half of 2020, namely:
- Islamic Food Processing Association (IFPA) as a B2B mechanism for addressing post-harvest losses through increased collaboration within the downstream food supply sub-sector.
a) Opportunities for collaboration between food producers in the OIC countries;
b) Possibilities to assist in removal of barriers (standardization and certification) to the exchange of goods and services between OIC member countries;
c) Collaboration of ICCIA and IOFS in identifying a mutual markets entry strategy.
-Support for Halal Food Business in Central Asia;
-Postponed visit of ICCIA to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in September 2020.
The meeting took note that there is a need to bring together all potential IFPA members and representatives/focal points of OIC/IOFS member countries through video conference at the end of July to discuss the main aspects of IFPA establishment.
The Parties agreed to be seized with a discussion of the further development of IFPA on Monday, June 22, 2020.
