The Director General of SESRIC, Dr. Savas Alpay, made a statement at the opening session of the workshop on “Country Partnership Models with Central Asia”, which was hosted by the Government of the Republic of Turkey, organized by the COMCEC Coordination Office and Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and held in Ankara, Turkey, on 22-23 February 2012. Within the framework of the implementation of the OIC Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia, the aim of the workshop was to study and discuss the country partnership models implemented in OIC Central Asian member countries with a focus on the basic obstacles/challenges in the existing country specific technical cooperation models and projects/programmes, sharing best practices, as well as to discuss ways and means for more effective cooperation between these countries and the other OIC member countries and institutions.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized and hosted a seminar on “Immigration in Canada: A General Equilibrium Analysis" in its headquarters in Ankara on February 16, 2012. The seminar has been delivered by Ms. Serife Genc, University of Pittsburgh.

The First International Food, Agriculture and Gastronomy Congress was held from 15 to 19 February 2012 in Antalya, Turkey. The Congress was organized jointly by Agricultural Federation of Turkey, Middle East Technical University and Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA). The Congress brought together an estimated 3000 people from around 65 countries. Participants of the event ranged from industry executives, decision-makers, government representatives, academics, retailers, operators of restaurants and hotel chains, consumer associations, and agricultural cooperatives. Mr. Nadi Serhan Aydin, Researcher, represented the SESRIC thereat.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized and hosted a seminar on “The Rise of Monogamy" in its headquarters in Ankara on February 7, 2012. The seminar has been delivered by Mr. Sadettin Haluk Citci.

Fifth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the Islamic Conference of Health Ministers was held at the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah on 31 January – 1 February 2012. The purpose of the Steering Committee Meeting was to review actions taken on the resolutions adopted by the First, Second Islamic Conferences of Health Ministers, and discuss the implementation of the resolutions adopted by the Third Islamic Conference of Health Ministers which was held in Astana, Republic of Kazakhstan on 29 September - 1 October 2011. The Meeting was attended by the members of the Steering Committee and SESRIC was represented by Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Researcher, thereat.

Dr. Savas Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, delivered a General Lecture at the Institute of Statistics (STIS), a higher education institution on statistics administered by BPS-Statistics Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia on 25 January 2012. The General Lecture was attended by the faculty and more than 1000 students of the STIS. The theme of the General Lecture delivered by Dr. Alpay was “Challenges and Prospects for Socio-Economic Development in the Islamic World”.

The Coordination Meeting of OIC Institutions Working in the Economic Domain was held at OIC Headquarters on 21-22 January 2012 with the participation of the following OIC Institutions working in the economy domain: OIC General Secretariat (Department of Economic Affairs), IDB (ISFD, ICD, ITFC), SESRIC, COMCEC Coordination Office, ICCI, ICDT, and OISA. The Meeting was chaired by H.E. Amb. Hameed A. Opeloyeru, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs.

The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) organized and hosted a seminar on “Long Term Contracts and Farm Inflexibility Premium in the Production of Cellulosic Ethanol" in its headquarters in Ankara on January 17, 2012. The seminar has been delivered by Ms. Rozita Jalili.

Dr. Savaş Alpay, Director General of SESRIC, delivered a special speech at Ankara Centre for Thought and Research (ADAM) on 13th January 2012. The conference entitled “Socio-Economic Development in the Islamic World: Challenges and Prospects” was attended by a group of academicians, industry practitioners, government officials and students.

The Meeting of Senior Officials from Member States of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) took place in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey from 12 to 14 January 2012 to consider the OIC Water Vision document. The Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Republic of Turkey in collaboration with the OIC General Secretariat hosted the Meeting. Fifty participants from thirty-two OIC Member States and OIC Institutions attended the Meeting during which Mr. Atilla Karaman, Researcher, represented the SESRIC.

SESRIC organized a study visit on “Skill Development for Youth Employment” (SDYE) in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS) of the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Employment Organisation (İŞKUR) on 11-13 January 2012, in Ankara, Turkey. The study visit was attended by delegations of OIC Member Countries, namely Cameroon, Egypt, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Palestine, Senegal, Tunisia and Turkey and also by representatives of the Al – Fakhoora Programme, a programme of poverty reduction developed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Besides, the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) attended the Study Visit as observer.