As part of the efforts to develop a Unified Statistical Strategy for the GCC Countries, the Sultanate of Oman and the General Secretariat of the GCC Countries organized a workshop on “The Formulation of the Unified Statistical Strategy of the GCC States” during 5-7 October 2009 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. This initiative was assigned to the Sultanate of Oman according to the resolution of the Ministerial Committee for Planning and Development of the GCC Countries in its nineteenth meeting, on 9 June 2009 in Muscat. The aim of the workshop was to benefit from the experiences of the international organizations in the formulation of the Strategy Document, the needed mechanisms and inputs for implementation and ensuring its success, together with developing tools for measuring and monitoring the execution of its activities.

The Meeting of the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of the OIC Member Countries was held in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey, on 3rd October 2009 on “Impacts of the Current Crisis on OIC Member Countries”. The Meeting was organized jointly by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey and the Statistical Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the 25th anniversary of the OIC Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). The Meeting was attended by H.E. Mr. Ali Babacan, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Governors of Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of OIC Member Countries, the OIC General Secretariat, COMCEC Coordination Office and the SESRIC.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised and hosted a seminar on “Bankruptcy Prediction: Fact or Fiction?” in its headquarters in Ankara on September 29, 2009. The seminar was delivered by Dr. Zeynep Topaloğlu.

The Centre organised a training course on “Computer Science: Management of Database” at the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on September 28-29, 2009. The course was provided by Mr. İlker Güven, expert from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) of the Republic of Turkey and was attended by 10 staff members of the State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities (CCSA) held its fourteenth Session in Bangkok, Thailand, on September 9-11, 2009. The session was jointly chaired by the two Co-chairs of the Committee - Mr. Paul Cheung, Director of the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) and Mr. Pieter Everaers, Director of External Cooperation, Communication and Key Indicators of Eurostat. Representatives of the member institutions of the CCSA participated to the Session. Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), represented the SESRIC during the Session.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) participated in the First Meeting of the Committee for Statistical Training organised by the League of Arab States in accordance with the recommendation of the 33rd Meeting of the Standing Technical Committee for Statistics. The Meeting was held at the Headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo during the period 4-6 August 2009.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organised a brainstorming session on 20-21 July 2009 in Istanbul, Turkey, within the framework of the research project entitled "Enhancing Economic and Commercial Cooperation among the Member Countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)". This project was initiated by the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the OIC and is being under implementation by the SESRIC.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized and hosted a seminar on “Market Economy and its Limits” in its headquarters in Ankara on July 15, 2009. The seminar was delivered by Dr. Asad Zaman, International Islamic University of Islamabad.

Third Task Force Training of MEDSTAT II was held on 14 – 15 July 2009 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. It was an event within the second phase of the MEDSTAT Programme of the European Union, which was established as a result of the Barcelona Conference held in 1995. MEDSTAT I was implemented from 1996 to 2003 and MEDSTAT II was launched in 2006 for a 45 – month period.

Dr. Savaş Alpay, Director General of the SESRIC, visited the  the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva on 3 July 2009. During his visit to ITU, he met Mr. Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General of ITU and conducted a fruitful discussion on the possibilities of sharing and exchanging statistical data related to ICT and the cooperation between the two institutions in the capacity building activities in ICT statistics, particularly for the National Statistical Organizations (NSOs) of the OIC Member States.

The Centre organised a training course on “Information Technology: E-Publication” at the Central Informatics Organisation of the Kingdom of Bahrain, through Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA), on June 23-25, 2009. The course was provided by Mrs. Zeinab Zohier Hosny, expert from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) of the Arab Republic of Egypt and was attended by 23 staff members of the Central Informatics Organisation and the Institute of Public Administration (BIPA).

The SESRIC together with the Turkish Asian Centre for Strategic Studies (TASAM) co-organized the “Congress of Vocational and Technical Education in Islamic Countries” which took place on 18-20 June 2009 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey. The congress was held with the high-level participation of the Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Education from OIC Member States, Director Generals of TVET Institutions, specialised NGOs in the field and academics from various universities.

In line with Resolution of the 24th Session of the COMCEC which designates “The Impact of Food Crisis on the Economies of OIC Countries” as the theme for the Exchange of Views at the Twenty Fifth Session of the COMCEC and requests the IDB/ICDT, in collaboration with the SESRIC (the coordinating institution for the exchange of views sessions), the OIC General Secretariat, the relevant OIC institutions and other related international organisations to organise a workshop on this topic prior to the Twenty Fifth Session of the COMCEC and to submit its report to the said COMCEC Session, the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), in collaboration with Ministry of Foreign Trade of the Kingdom of Morocco and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) of the Islamic Development Bank co-organized a two days workshop on “The Impact of Food Crisis on the Economies of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Developmental Prospects of Trade and Investments in the Agricultural Sector” on June 17-18, 2009 in Casablanca, Kingdom of Morocco. Mr. Mazhar Hussain, researcher at SESRIC, represented the Centre thereat and presented a working paper titled: “Socio-economic Impacts of Food Prices Volatility in the OIC Member Countries”.

The Second Meeting of the OIC SWG was held on 15-16 June 2009 at the Headquarters of the SESRIC in Ankara, Turkey. OIC General Secretariat, SESRIC, IDB, ICDT, COMCEC and delegates from the NSOs of Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Turkey participated in the Meeting. ICCI could not attend the meeting but sent its views and progress report to SESRIC.

The 34th Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Board of Governors took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on 2-3 June 2009. H.E. Dr. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC represented the Centre thereat.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized and hosted a seminar on “Global Economic Crises and Turkish Economy " in its headquarters in Ankara on May 28, 2009. The seminar was delivered by Dr. Mehmet Yörükoğlu, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey.

The 4th Forum on Arab Statistical Capacity Building and the Regional Meeting on “Measuring the Progress of Arab Societies” was held in Cairo, Egypt on 25 - 27 May 2009. The Forum and the Meeting were attended by the representatives of the National Statistical Organizations (NSOs) of the Arab Countries as well as representatives of some international organizations, namely, AITRS, IDB, MEDSTAT II, OECD PARIS21, UNSD, UNESCWA and World Bank. Dr. Sıdıka Başçı, Director of the Statistics and Information Department represented SESRIC during the Forum and made a presentation titled: “Exchange of Training Expertise among the Arab Countries and Developing NSDS”.

The 36th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) was held in the Syrian capital Damascus, from 23 to 25 May 2009, under the theme 'Promoting Islamic Solidarity'.

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2009 was held on 18 - 22 May 2009, at the ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. WSIS was co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD and UNDP. Mr. Huseyin Hakan Eryetli, Director of the Publication and IT Department, and Mr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher, represented the Centre thereat.

The World Trade Organization (WTO), in cooperation with ITC, UNCTAD and the World Bank, hosted on 18-19 May 2009 at its headquarters in Geneva – Switzerland, 'Data Day at WTO', an inter-agency initiative aimed at raising awareness on a range of data-related issues, familiarizing users further with multiple data applications, drawing attention to continuing needs for data, and promoting coherence and co-operation among international agencies that manage data. Mr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher, participated in the “Data Day at WTO”.