The Centre organized a Knowledge and Experience Sharing Workshop on ISMEK Master Trainers Programme in collaboration with the Centre for Art and Vocational Training Courses of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İSMEK), on 27-28 October 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey. The Workshop was attended by managers and master trainers from Palestine within the context of knowledge and experience sharing of the ISMEK art and vocational training system.

The Centre organised a training programme on “Risk Management” at Bank of Uganda on 27-28 October 2014, within the framework of OIC Central Banks Capacity Building Programme (OIC-CB-CaB). The Course was provided by Mr. Suat Aydın, Deputy Director, FX Risk Management Division of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, with the participation of relevant experts from the Bank of Uganda.

The First Investment Forum on OIC Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 27-28 October 2014 with the participation of H.E. Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan, H.E. Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), H.E. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Esteemed Ministers from OIC Member States, Representatives of Relevant Ministries and National Institutions from OIC Member States, Representatives from the OIC Institutions (ICCIA, ICDT, SESRIC, SMIIC), international organisations and investment companies.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan and within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme, SESRIC organised the Training Programme on 'Information Society Statistics' at the General Bureau of Statistics (GBS) in Paramaribo, Republic of Suriname on 27-28 October 2014. The Course was provided by Mr. Bouazza Bouchkhar, Statistics Expert at the Directorate of Statistics-HCP with the participation of relevant officials of the GBS.

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 organised a training course on ‘Occupational Safety’ at State Labour Inspectorate, Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth, Albania, on 15-16 September 2014. The training course was provided by Mrs. Gizem Naz Dölek, Expert of Occupational Safety and Health, and Mrs. Esra Yılmaz, Environmental Engineer at the Occupational Health and Safety Centre (ISGUM) affiliated to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Turkey.

In accordance with its 2014 Annual Work Plan, SESRIC organised the Training Course on 'Information Society Statistics' at the Kuwait Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) in Kuwait City on 21-23 October 2014, within the framework of the Statistical Capacity Building (StatCaB) Programme. In her opening remarks Ms. Mariam A. Al-Aqeel, Director General, CSB of Kuwait thanked SESRIC and Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) for building the capacity of CSB personnel through the programme. The Course was provided by Ayhan Doğan, Statistics Expert at TurkStat with the participation of relevant officials of Kuwait CSB, Central Agency for Information Technology of Kuwait and other related sector representatives.

The 5th Ministerial Conference on the Role of Women in the Development of OIC Member States was held in Baku, Azerbaijan on 20-21 October 2014 under the theme of “The Role of Women in Sustainable Development”

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.

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, in collaboration with Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), has organized a workshop on “Global Islamic Leadership” on 20-24 October 2014 in SESRIC’s headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. The specific objective of the workshop was to develop the contents of the Islamic Leadership by combining technical and Islamic aspects and, to train top leaders from different countries based on suitable criteria. In this context, the workshop was attended by thirteen international middle-and-senior-level professionals who are playing leading role in non-governmental organizations and eight local participants from different ministries. The workshop came to end with certificate distribution ceremony among the participants.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) in partnership with United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia (UNESCWA) and Arab Institute for Training and Research in Statistics (AITRS) organised the Regional Workshop on 'Revision 3 of Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses and Census Data Evaluation' in Amman, Jordan from 19 to 23 October 2014 with the participation of 20 national experts from 15 Arab countries including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen, and international experts.

SESRIC, IDB Turkey Country Gateway Office and General Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety of Turkey held a tripartite meeting in order to discuss possible ways and means of cooperation and collaboration among the three institutions within the framework of OIC Occupational Health and Safety Network (OIC-OSHNET), which was established as the first international collaboration network under the OIC-VET.

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, in cooperation with Turkish State Railways (TCDD), International Union of Railways (UIC) and Middle-East Railway Training Center (MERTCe), has organized a training workshop on “RAMS & LCC for the Railway Infrastructure” on 14-16 October 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and State Statistical Committee (SSC) of Republic of Azerbaijan agreed on a partnership to facilitate collaboration and cooperation between both institutions within the framework of the project titled “Integration of the ‘Tobacco Questions for Surveys (TQS)’ into the National Surveys in OIC Member States”.

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.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SESRIC and UN-Habitat was signed on 8 October 2014. The MoU aims at establishing a framework for cooperation and collaboration between SESRIC and UN-Habitat for the promotion of sustainable urbanization in OIC member countries, and sharing the existing capacities among relevant institutions, including conducting training courses, researches and workshops.

The Baku Forum of the Organization of Economic Cooperation (ECO) was launched during the Annual Meeting of the ECO held in 2012 in Baku. The 1st Baku Forum of Economic Think-Tanks of ECO Member States was held on 5-6 September 2013, and, as a part of the Forum, the 1st International Conference on “Energy, Regional Integration and Socio-economic Development” was also held. In line with tradition, the 2nd Baku Forum of Economic Think-Tanks of Economic Cooperation Organization Member States & the 2nd International Conference on “Energy, Regional Integration and Socio-Economic Development” were held on 1-3 October 2014 in Baku, Republic of Azerbaijan. The two events were organized by the Ministry of Economy and Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), Economic Modelling Network and Institute for Scientific Research on Economic Reforms. The two events brought together representatives from about 30 countries and included round table breakout sessions where about 120 lectures have been made on contemporary challenges of industrialization, scientific research and funding opportunities, prospects of government-university-private sector cooperation and other topics related to cooperation of international organizations, government institutions and private sectors.

In accordance with the resolution of the 29th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the OIC (COMCEC), the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the COMCEC Coordination Office organized a workshop on 30 September – 01 October 2014 at the Headquarters of SESRIC in Ankara, Republic of Turkey as a preparatory event for the Ministerial Exchange of Views Session on the theme “The Role of Public Private Partnerships for the Development of the Tourism Sector in OIC Member States” during the 30th Session of the COMCEC, to be held in Istanbul on 25-28 November 2014.