The 30th Session of the COMCEC convened in Istanbul on 25-28 November 2014 with the participation of delegates from the member countries. The session started in the first two days with the meeting of senior officials. During the Meeting, the delegations of the Member States and the OIC institutions considered and deliberated on a number of agenda items related to various issues of enhancing economic and commercial cooperation among the Member States. The issues include: Review of the implementation of the COMCEC Strategy and the OIC Ten-Year Program of Action and the Plan of Action; world economic developments with special reference to the OIC member countries; expansion of intra-OIC trade; enhancing the role of private sector in economic cooperation; improving transport and communications; developing a sustainable and competitive tourism sector; increasing productivity of agriculture sector and sustaining food security; eradicating poverty; deepening financial cooperation; exchange of views on “the role of public private partnerships for the development of the tourism sector in the OIC member states”.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on ‘Manufacturing Statistics’ on 24-26 November 2014 at the premises of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Abu Dhabi, UAE, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The course was provided by Mr. Nimer Hashem Gharbia, an expert of Department of Statistics Jordan, and was attended by 34 officials from the National Statistical Offices of GCC including Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Statistical Confidentiality and Disclosure Protection' at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in Abuja, Nigeria on 24-25 November 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Ms. Doreen Ninsiima Kasozi, Senior Standards Officer at Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) with the participation of relevant officials of NBS.

The 7th International Energy Congress and Fair (EIF 2014) was held on 24-25 November 2014 in Ankara, Turkey, under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Republic of Turkey, with the support of SESRIC and other national and international organisations, The purpose of the Congress was to evaluate electricity generation and energy markets in the World as well as to create an environment that discusses latest developments and practises in many ways.

The Second Expert Group Meeting (EGM-2) on Enhancing National Capacities of OIC Member Countries in Poverty Statistics was held on 19-20 November 2014 at SESRIC Headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. The First EGM has been held on 7-8 August 2014.

The Centre and the Social Security Institution of the Republic of Turkey have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to initiate and facilitate collaboration and cooperation between both institutions in matters of common interest and implementation of joint research and capacity building projects for the benefit of Social Security Institutions in OIC Member Countries. The MoU was signed on 18 November 2014 by Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, and Mrs. Yadigar Gökalp İlhan, President of Turkish SSI.

SESRIC organised a study visit on ' ‘Global Adult Tobacco Survey and Turkish Health Survey ' in collaboration with the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) on 18 and 21 November 2014, in Ankara, Turkey with the participation of Mr. Hamid Baghirov, First Deputy Chairman, and Mr. Yashar Pasha, Head of Population Living Standards and Household Budget Survey Statistics Department, State Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, under the scope of a recent project initiated by SESRIC regarding the integration of TQS into ongoing national surveys in OIC Member States.

The Centre organised a training course on “Occupational Hygiene” in collaboration with the Occupational Health Division of Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health in Brunei Darussalam on 18-20 November 2014. The training course was provided by two experts, namely, Ir Anuar Mohd. Mokhtar, Deputy Director, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, and Mr. Hamidi Saidin, Occupational Health and Safety Expert, with the attendance of participants from public and private sectors.

Adopted in 2012, the Strategy Document of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) is the first vision document for the COMCEC for six main cooperation areas including tourism. To achieve strategic objectives defined in the COMCEC Strategy, COMCEC Coordination Office launched the COMCEC Project Cycle Management (PCM) Programme in 2013. Carried out under the support of COMCEC PCM Programme and coordinated by SESRIC, the project titled “2013-SESRIC-0111 Improving Statistical Capacities of Tourism Sector” aims at building statistical capacity in tourism statistics and overall contributing to the National Statistical Systems (NSS) of the member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) through capacity building programs including short-term trainings.

The International Statistical Institute Regional Statistics Conference 2014 (ISI-RSC 2014) organized by International Statistical Institute South East Asia Regional Network (ISI-SEA Network) was held at Sasana Kijang (Bank Negara Malaysia's Centre for Knowledge and Learning Excellence) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 16-19 November 2014.

The Centre has organised the Fifth Meeting of the Monitoring and Advisory Committee (MAC) of the Vocational Education and Training Programme for OIC Member Countries (OIC-VET) in its Headquarters at Ankara on 12-13 November 2014. The Meeting was attended by representatives of National Focal Points from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Comoros, Gambia, Iran, Nigeria, Oman, Togo and Turkey. The meeting was also participated by representative of the COMCEC Coordination Office, as well as some OIC-VET partners, namely, ISGUM, ISKUR and ISMEK.

Halal Food Industry Symposium was organized on 11 November 2014 as a specialized programme under the 9th Dubai International Food Safety Conference (DIFSC) held in Dubai, UAE.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC in collaboration with AFRISTAT co-organised the training course on 'Poverty, Living Conditions and Cross-Cutting Social Issues' at the National Agency of Statistics and Demographics (ANSD) in Dakar, Republic of Senegal on 10-14 November 2014. The course was conducted by Mr. Siriky Coulibaly, Poverty Analysis Expert of AFRISTAT, with the participation of relevant officials of the ANSD.

The Centre organised a training course on ‘Islamic Microfinance’ at the Somali Bank for Reconstruction and Development (SBRD) in Somalia on 09-11 November 2014. The Training Course was provided by Mr. Abdul Samad, Member of Shairah Compliance Department in AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking & Economics, Pakistan.

Director General of SESRIC will deliver a keynote speech during the Forum on “The Importance of Public-Private Partnerships in Healthcare Crisis Management” scheduled to be organized in the holy city of Madinah al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia, on 6 November 2014. This forum will be attended by various healthcare leaders, eminent experts, as well as chief medical officers, hospitals managers, medical colleges directors, heads of nursing, healthcare insurance providers, government officials in healthcare, OD & training directors and healthcare policy makers.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on “Informal Sector” at the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in Kampala on 05-07 November 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. The Course was provided by Mr. Ahmed Sanusi, Statistics Expert at National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Nigeria with the participation of relevant officials of UBOS.

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of the OIC Member Countries was organised jointly by SESRIC and Bank Indonesia, and held on 5-6 November 2014 in Surabaya, Republic of Indonesia. Delegates from more than 30 OIC member countries including governors, deputy governors, technical experts, and senior representatives of relevant OIC and other international organisations including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) attended the Meeting. Themed “Dealing with Financial Stability Risks: Macro-prudential Policy and Financial Deepening in Islamic Finance”, the two-day Meeting was comprised of an Expert Group Workshop (EGW) in the first day, followed by a Governors Meeting in the second. The Centre was represented by Prof. Savas Alpay, Director-General, Mr. Nabil Dabour, Director of Research, and Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydin, Senior Researcher.

Adopted in 2012, the Strategy Document of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) is the first vision document for the COMCEC for six main cooperation areas including tourism. To achieve strategic objectives defined in the COMCEC Strategy, COMCEC Coordination Office launched the COMCEC Project Cycle Management (PCM) Programme in 2013. Carried out under the support of COMCEC PCM Programme and coordinated by SESRIC, the project titled “2013-SESRIC-0111 Improving Statistical Capacities of Tourism Sector” aims at building statistical capacity in tourism statistics and overall contributing to the National Statistical Systems (NSS) of the member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) through capacity building programs including short-term trainings.

The Centre participated at the Indonesian International Conference on Islamic Finance, which was organised by Indonesian Financial Services Authority (IFSA or OJK) from 3 to 4 November 2014 in Surabaya, Republic of Indonesia. The Conference, themed “An Integrated Development of Islamic Finance toward Financial Stability and Sustainable Economic Development,” was held in conjunction with the 2014 Meeting of Central Banks and Monetary Authorities of OIC Member States. The Centre was represented at the Conference by Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydin, Senior Researcher.

Bezmialem Foundation University organized the “International Disaster – 14 Congress” during 31 October – 2 November 2014 in Istanbul. The congress brought together more than 200 participants from academia, local and national government organizations, non-governmental organizations and national and international experts. During the first day of the congress, technical courses have been provided to students and other interested persons in different fields of disaster management.