His Excellency Mr. Yerlan A. Baidaulet, the Director General of the Islamic Organization of Food Security (IOFS), is leading the Institution’s delegation attending the 38^th Ministerial Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) being held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey until 29 November 2022 under the chairmanship of the Turkish Presidency.

The main highlight of the first day, 28 November 2022, was the official opening session, which was addressed by Their Excellencies the President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the OIC Secretary General, Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, the Minister of National Economy of the State of Palestine, as well as the Brunei Darussalam, Republic of Nigeria, and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in representation, respectively, of Asian, African, and Arab Groups of the OIC geographic distribution.

On the sidelines of the Ministerial gathering, the IOFS Director General had a number of bilateral meetings, including with

1. His Excellency Mr. Abdou Karim Fofana, Minister of Commerce, Consumer Affairs and SMEs of the Republic of Senegal, and discussed the strengthening the bilateral cooperation that may include an official visit to Dakar, exchange of experts to develop palm-oil, and supporting the development of Senegalese agri-manufacturing and processing industries.
2. His Excellency Prof. Dr. Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), with whom was agreed the idea of holding a capacity building program on one of the main areas of food security in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2023, which may also include a lecture at the IUT on the sidelines of the proposed activity.
3. His Excellency Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, Secretary General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, issues of mutual concern in the field of marine aquaculture and “Scaling up Climate Smart Agriculture (SCSA)” formed part of the exchanges with both interlocutors agreeing that a Memorandum of Understanding and an Action Plan are to be negotiated and signed in near future to institutionalize the bilateral cooperation between the two Organizations.

The Director General also attended the Official Dinner offered to participating Heads of Delegations, and there he had the opportunity to have consultations with Her Excellency Dr. Afnan Alshuhaiby, Executive Director of the OIC Women Development Organization (WDO), for strengthening the already existing bilateral coordination, and the planning of potential joint activities in to be convened in 2023.

It should be mentioned that Dr. Ismail Abdelhamid, Director of Programmes & Projects, and Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Senior Liaison Officer, are the remaining Members of the IOFS Delegation to the 38^th COMCEC Ministerial Session.