SESRIC and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) organised the First Interim Meeting of the Working Group on Macro-Prudential Regulations. The Meeting was held on 23 December 2012 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, under the hospitality of Central Bank of UAE. A total of 10 representatives from 7 central banks and monetary authorities of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, and SESRIC, attended the Meeting. SESRIC was represented in the Meeting by Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydin, Centre’s Researcher.

Mr. Yama Yari, advisor at the Ministry of Public Works of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan visited the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) on 21 December 2012 and had a meeting with the Mr. Huseyin Hakan Eryetli, Director of Training and Technical Cooperation Department of the Centre.

SESRIC and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) organised the First Interim Meeting of the Working Group on Liquidity Management in Islamic Finance. The Meeting was held on 20 December 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, under the hospitality of BNM. A total of 8 representatives from 5 central banks and monetary authorities of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries, and SESRIC, attended the Meeting. SESRIC was represented in the Meeting by Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydin, Centre’s Researcher.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised training on “Fiber Technology: Contamination” at the New Cotton Company of Togo (NSCT) in Atakpamé, Togo, on 20-22 December 2012. The course was provided by Mr Papa Fata NDIAYE, an expert from Society for Development of Textile (SODEFITEX) in Senegal, and was attended by scientists dealing with cotton production of the New Cotton Company of Togo (NSCT).

The Centre organised training course on “Income and Consumption” at the Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA), on 19-20 December 2012. The course was provided by Ms. Fidaa Abtli, an expert from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and was attended by relevant staff members of the Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA).

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a training programme on “Inflation Targeting” at the Central Bank of Republic of Azerbaijan on 19-21 December 2012, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme. The Course was provided by Ms. Neslihan Kaya, expert of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey with participation of relevant members of Central Bank of Republic of Azerbaijan.

The 2nd International Conference on Management of Technology (MoT), IRAMOT 2012 Conference was held on December 16-17, 2012 in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran with presence of more than 800 participants. The conference is held annually to provide a platform and bring together the global community in the field of Technology Management.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) was represented in the International Conference on “Innovation in Skills Development for SMEs Competitiveness” in Ankara, Turkey on 14 December 2012 by Dr. Umut Ünal, Researcher, and Mr. Efe Kerem Aydin, Research Assistant.

Organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Council for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP),the Committee on Statistics held its third session on 12-14 December 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Committee Session was attended by 159 delegates from UNESCAP full and associate member countries and 36 representatives from 18 organisations. 9 out of the attending 35 UNESCAP member countries were also OIC member countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. The Centre was represented thereat by Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General, and Mr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher.

Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, and Ketua Umum Prof. Said Aqil Siradj, General Chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU), Indonesia’s largest independent Muslim organization, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 11 December 2012. The MoU Signing Ceremony was attended by over 50 guests and Indonesian press and witnessed by two ministers of the Cabinet of the Republic of Indonesia including H.E. Mr. Muhaimin Iskandar, Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, and H.E. Mr. Helmy Faishal Zaini, State Minister for Development of Disadvantaged Regions.

SESRIC and International Anatolian Health Federation (USAF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop an institutional collaboration for IbnSina Health Capacity Building Programme on 10 December 2012 at the new headquarters of SESRIC. The objective of the MoU is to foster a stronger relationship between the two parties p for the improvement of training courses on health related issues. The MoU is also intended to provide health professionals and personnel with comprehensive training programmes particularly in the fields of diabetes, hypertension and pregnancy care ultrasonography.

The 19th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2012) was held from 9 to 11 December 2012 in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain, under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and with the official support of the Central Bank of Bahrain. WIBC 2012 was themed “Islamic Finance: Adapting to the New Dynamics of Global Finance” and attended by over 1,000 industry leaders from over 50 countries representing some 260 international and regional organizations. Almost a hundred international speakers and industry thought leaders discussed critical issues that the global Islamic finance industry is currently facing and how Islamic finance can adapt to the new dynamics of global finance.

The 1st Meeting of the OIC/COMCEC Private Sector Tourism Forum was held on 7-8 December 2012 in İzmir, Turkey with the collaboration of Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey and Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial of the Organization of Islamic Countries (COMCEC). The Forum was attended by public and private sector representatives from 11 OIC Member Countries, OIC General Secretariat and relevant OIC institutions, including Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), COMCEC Coordination Office, and Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) as well as United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Turkey office.

Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) was represented in the 2nd Railway Seminar – Closing Ceremony of the Railway Operation in ECVET (RAILVET) Project in Ankara, Turkey on 5-6 December 2012 by Mr. Efe Kerem Aydin, Centre’s Research Assistant.

The Fifth ECO High Level Expert Group Meeting was held on 4-5 December 2012 in Ankara, Turkey, hosted by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). The meeting was attended by the delegates from National Statistical Offices (NSO) from 6 ECO Countries including Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey and the representatives of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA). The Centre was represented there by Ms. Münevver Nilgün Egemen, Senior Researcher and Mr. Syed Tahir Mahmud, Researcher.

The World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation organised the Eight World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) on 4-6 December 2012, in Iskandar Development Region of the state of Johor Bahru, Malaysia – the fastest growing economic region in the country and one of the most significant business districts in Southeast Asia. The Forum was held on the theme “Changing Trends, New Opportunities”. The Eight WIEF discussed the changing dynamics in global business today after the Arab uprisings and Eurozone crisis which left many doors open to new business opportunities elsewhere across the globe.

Upon a cordial invitation, the Director General of SESRIC, Prof. Savas Alpay, presented a Public Lecture titled “Critical Perspectives on Socio-Economic Development and Transformation in the Islamic World” at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies (QFIS), Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, on 2nd December 2012.

Within the framework of the OIC-VET Programme, SESRIC in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has initiated a project titled “Skill Development for Youth Employment (SDYE)” with a view to contributing to the efforts of the OIC Member Countries towards decreasing the high unemployment rates, particularly among youth. As an initial phase of the SDYE programme, a Study Visit was organized in Ankara, Republic of Turkey on 11-13 January, 2012 with the participation of relevant institutions from eight selected pilot member countries to share and exchange the experience of Turkey in fighting against youth unemployment through, in particular, the project named “Skill 10 Project”. The Study Visit also discussed the possible ways and means of transferring the Turkish experience in “Skill 10 Project” as a best practice to the eight selected pilot OIC Member Countries.

The Centre organised training course on “Quarterly National Accounts” at the Department of National Planning, Maldives, on 26-28 November 2012. The course was provided by Ms. Siti Asiah Ahmad an expert from the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and was attended by relevant staff members of the Department of National Planning, Maldives.

A group of eight master trainers from different vocational schools of the Republic of Senegal received training at the Centre for Art and Vocational Training Courses of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İSMEK) under SESRIC’s İSMEK Master Trainer Programme (İMTP) with the support of Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) on 26 November-4 December 2012 in Istanbul, Turkey.