The Centre organised a training course on “Statistical Data Analysis” at the Qatar Statistics Authority of the State of Qatar on December 22-24, 2008. The course was provided by an expert from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics of the Arab Republic of Egypt and was attended by 14 staff members of the Qatar Statistics Authority of the State of Qatar.

The Centre organised a two-day training programme in the field of national accounts on 1-2 December 2008, in Ankara, Turkey at Hotel Ickale for Asian Member Countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD). The training programme was conducted in English and simultaneous translation to Russian was provided.

The Third Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was held in Durban, South Africa on 17-22 November 2008. SESRIC participated in the Session in its capacity to represent the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) as an observer international intergovernmental organisation to the Conference.

The Department of Economic Development of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah – United Arab Emirates organized an international conference entitled “The Impact of Information and Integrated Statistical Systems on Socio-Economical Development” in collaboration with the College of Business and Economics- United Arab Emirates University during the period 8-10 November 2008. SESRIC presented a paper entitled “The Role of International Organizations in Developing Integrated Statistical Systems” during the conference.

A seminar on “The Emergence of e-Commerce and its Impact on Economies of OIC Member Countries” was co-organized by the SESRIC, IDB and the COMCEC Coordination Bureau in Istanbul, Turkey on October 28 – 30, 2008.

SESRIC have participated in the High Level Expert Group (HLEG) Meeting of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) which was held on 26-28 October 2008 in Tehran, which was organised by the ECO General Secretariat and hosted by the Statitical Centre of Iran (SCI).

The 24th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (COMCEC) was held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on 20-24 October 2008.

The Second Meeting of the OIC Stock Exchanges Forum was organised by the Istanbul Stock Exchange of the Republic of Turkey and convened in Istanbul on 18-19 October 2008 with the participation of representatives of 17 stock exchanges in 15 OIC Member States, Central Depositories, Clearing and Registry Institutions of 7 OIC Member States, OIC General Secretariat, Statistical, Economic and Training centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), Islamic development bank (IDB) and COMCEC Coordination Office. Representatives of Capital Markets Board and Privatisation Administration of Turkey, Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Citibank EMEA and Dow Jones Indexes have also attended the Meeting.

The Islamic Conference of the Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research (ICMHESR-4) held its 4th session, in Baku, under the high patronage of His Excellency Mr Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, from 6 through 8 October 2008 October 2008, on the theme of “Bringing Change through Scientific Youth Force”. The aim of the Conference was to provide an opportunity for the Ministers and Representatives of the OIC Member States to discuss various important issues pertaining to higher education and scientific research in the Islamic world and to evaluate and follow up the implementation of the Strategy for Development of Science and Technology in Islamic Countries, approved by the 8th Islamic Summit Conference (Tehran, December 1997) and adopted in its amended version by the 10th Islamic Summit Conference (Putrajaya, October 2003). Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of the SESRIC and Mr. Mehmet Fatih Serenli, Acting Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department at SESRIC represented the Centre at the Session.

The OIC Foreign Ministers held their annual coordination meeting in New York on 26th September 2008 under the chairmanship of Mr. Sam Kutesa, Foreign Minister of Uganda.

The UN General Assembly opened its 63rd Session at the UN Headquarters in New York, United States of America, on Sept. 16, 2008 with its new president Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann saying that the issues of global food crisis, UN reform and climate change are among the key themes of its one-year work.

The 6th and Final Meeting of the OIC Task Force on SMEs was held at the Assumption University of Thailand, Bangkok on August 15-17, 2008. The Meeting was organized by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Thai Islamic Trade and Industrial Association (TITIA) and Assumption University of Thailand (AU). Dr. Savaş Alpay, Director General, represented the Centre thereat and participated in the deliberation sessions in which the main themes of the meeting were discussed.

SESRIC has participated in the Turkish-African CSOs Forum “Cooperation and Development” that took place in Istanbul from 14 to 16 August 2008. The Forum was organized by the African Institute of Turkish Asian Centre for Strategic Studies (TASAM), an Istanbul based think tank organisation dedicated to African studies. Around 200 members of CSOs from the Republic of Turkey and African continent and 25 regional and international organisations participated in the Forum. Mr. Mehmet Fatih Serenli, Senior Researcher at the Centre, represented the SESRIC thereat.

The Workshop on “Improving the Investment Climate in the OIC Member Countries” was held in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 22-23 July 2008 in fulfillment of a recommendation of the 23rd Session of the COMCEC, held on 14-17 November 2007 in Istanbul, Turkey, which chose the topic of this Workshop as the theme of the ‘Exchange of Views’ Session for the 24th Session of the COMCEC.

The UN Assistant Secretary General, Head of the Office of United Nations in Geneva, H.E. Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze and the OIC Assistant Secretary General for Science and Technology H.E. Mr. Ali Akbar Salehi have officially opened the 2-days biennial UN-OIC General Meeting on Cooperation, on Tuesday, 8 July 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Regional Workshop on DevInfo took place in Beirut from 7 to 10 July 2008. The workshop has been organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in partnership with the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), UN country offices, and the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

The Experts Group Meeting (EGM) on Enhancing Intra-OIC Trade was jointly organised by the Centre, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange (TOBB) of the Republic of Turkey and the COMCEC Coordination Office and held at the campus of the Economy and Technology University (ETU) of the TOBB in Ankara on 5-6 July 2008.

The Sixth Session of the Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM) was held in Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, on 29 June - 2 July 2008. It was preceded by a two-day Meeting of the Senior Officials on 29-30 June. Representatives from 32 member countries, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), the Arab Tourism Organisation, Iran cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organisation, the General Secretariat of the OIC and its subsidiary, specialised and affiliated institutions attended the Conference. Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General, and Mr. Nabil Dabour, Acting Director of Research Department, represented the Centre thereat.

The Centre organised a training course on “Agriculture Statistics” at the Kazakhstan Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on June 24-26, 2008. The course was provided by an expert from the Turkish Statistical Institute in Turkey and was attended by 20 staff members of the Kazakhstan Statistical Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The 35th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) was held on 18-20 June 2008 in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda and was attended by representatives from 53 Member States, the General Secretariat of the OIC and its subsidiary, specialised and affiliated institutions. Dr. Savaş Alpay, Director General of the SESRIC, represented the Centre thereat.