The Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted a meeting between the MCCI’s management and a delegation from the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA), headed by its Secretary General, Mr. H.E. Youssef Hassan Khalavi.
The Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture is an affiliated institution of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and represents the private sector of fifty-seven Islamic member - states. Its main mission is to establish closer cooperation in trade, commerce, information technology, insurance, reinsurance, shipping, banking, promoting investment opportunities and joint ventures among its member - countries.
The meeting was attended by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s President, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, Vice-President of the Chamber in charge of international and interregional cooperation, Mr. Suren Vardanyan, and the Head of the MCCI Commission on foreign economic cooperation with partners in Pakistan, Mr. Stanislav Korolev.
As Mr. Platonov noted, Russia is a multinational and multi-confessional state with an ancient history and one of the youngest market economies in the world. "There are about a million Muslims living in Moscow city and Moscow region alone.” - he pointed out. “Therefore, establishing economic ties with the countries of your Chamber is one of the most important tasks we set for ourselves.”
Mr. Halavi said that it is not the first time he has visited Moscow, but for the first time he came here as he the Secretary General of the ICCIA. The Head of the Islamic CCIA outlined three strategic directions for its work. "We must become an engine for investment," he said. In addition, private sector development and support, as well as establishing policy, are key areas of our focus. As one of the tools to implement the set tasks, the speaker designated holding sectoral forums covering the entire spectrum of the economy of the Islamic world. "We have assessed the potential of each country," emphasized Mr. Halavi.
He named the most promising products for foreign trade: coffee, tea and cocoa, which "make much more money than oil and gas. At the same time, according to the guest, a farmer, who grew cocoa beans, gets only 2% of its value for every cup of coffee sold. And the biggest profit goes to a producer of plastic cups into which the coffee is poured. “It is wrong.” said the Head of the delegation. “We want to make it right.” The meeting touched upon the issuance of halal certificates, for which different countries have varied requirements. According to Mr. Halavi, it is planned that soon exporters will be able to obtain an ICCIA certificate, which will be recognized by countries, whose Chambers of Commerce are its members.
Mr. Korolev said that the Commission, headed by him, has been working for more than seven years and is mainly engaged in the promotion of Russian business in the markets of Pakistan. "This is a very difficult domain, because of the differences in culture and mentality," Mr. Korolev said. In addition, cooperation is now being pursued in the field of education: soon, an agreement will be signed between the International Islamic University in Islamabad and Novosibirsk State University.
Summing up the meeting, Mr. Vardanyan stated that both sides are interested in concrete, realistic projects that can be implemented jointly. In this context, the sides pin great hopes on the International Economic Summit "Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit 2021" recently held in Kazan. It is expected that following its results, the work on the development and implementation of new joint projects will continue.