From R to L: Pakistani, Bosnian & Sudanese presidents attending the OIC business forum (AFP)

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia Correspondent

PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia , October 17 (IslamOnline.net) -  Trade and business as well as economic cooperation among member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) are salient for the progress and independence of the Islamic world, economic experts told IslamOnline.net on Friday, October 17.

"To prosper as an economic bloc and to reinforce cooperation among Muslim countries, OIC members have a moral and economic responsibility to start working together and promote trade and commerce," said Fazil Bakar, a businessman from South Africa participating in the OIC business forum at Putrajaya Convention Center .

He was on board with delegates from OIC member-states who said there was no enough cooperation among businessmen and traders and that governments should double efforts to enhance trade relations altogether.

Taking Malaysia as an example, Bakar said the majority Muslim nation hosting the OIC conference has strived to achieve a level of success in trading with Muslim nations such as Turkey , the Arabian Peninsula and even some African countries.

"It is undeniable that this is part of Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad’s policies to make Malaysia popular but it is the way the Malaysians went about trade and commerce that is interesting," remarked the South African businessman.

He also compared Malaysia ’s openness to do business with most Muslim countries to that of Dubai in the UAE, which is a free port and maintains cooperation with many Muslim nations in terms of business and trade.

During the OIC business forum several speakers said they believed trade must be enhanced.

Some of the speakers compared inter-OIC trade relations with that between European countries, noting that the EU economic agenda was flourishing.

"Let us set the ball rolling for Muslims states to achieve greater unity and cooperation via more trade," said Muhammad Saidur Rahman of Bangladesh in his speech at the forum.

He too cited Malaysia as an Islamic country which stood out as an example to all OIC members in self-reliance, economic development and determination.

Addressing the opening session of the OIC summit Thursday, October 16, Mahathir exhorted Muslims across the world to capitalize on their "political, economic and financial clout…to make up for our weakness in military term."

Islamic Banking

Malaysian Deputy Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi addressing the forum (AFP)

Meanwhile, Majid Al Sayed Bader Al-Refai, managing director of the Unicorn Group in Bahrain , said Islamic financial institutions needed to set new standards of universal Islamic investment banking.

Addressing the OIC business forum, he said these institutions should engineer and deliver diverse world-class products in accordance with international standards and regulations.

A bank (based on Islamic principles) that could globally provide financial products professionally, competitively and ethically was needed, Al-Refai stressed.

"Often, Islamic financial institutions lack of an Islamic brand with diversified locations and products, and lack the global brand strength and professionalism to produce innovative products that clients can rely on," he said.

Al-Refai said Islamic financial institutions should be well-capitalized and independent, guided by a Shariah board that understood the financial world.

At present, he said Islamic financial institutions lacked the ability to provide effective alternatives and innovative solutions, even to their own governments.

Saad-UZ Zaman, managing director of City Islamic Investment Bank in the UAE, called for greater and active support from OIC governments to bring Islamic finance on par with conventional financial services.

He said OIC central banks and governments could provide the regulatory framework, legal and taxation support where the governments could promote the establishment and development of Islamic institutions and instruments by favorable policy changes.

During the forum there were much talk of the Sukuk Bond Issuance by individual countries such as Malaysia , Qatar and Bahrain .

These countries had moved towards establishing such a market which allows them to raise sovereign financing.

The Sukuk Bond would also help to develop Islamic capital markets while sovereign instruments could promote capital flows between countries as well as provide a benchmark for corporate issuance.

Despite the establishment of this market, there is the need to resolve issues such as Shariah standardization, instrument documentation standardization, regional co-ordination, information flow and market linkage to promote market efficiency, said Zaman.