Islamabad: The second World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) ended a three-day meeting here yesterday with a declaration urging Muslim countries to "promote and intensify Islamic banking, finance and insurance".
The declaration called on governments of the 57 member states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to provide "fullest support" to the activities and programmes of the forum.
The governments should continue to "create a conducive environment for business, investments and economic growth through regular dialogues, consultations and smart partnerships with the private sector", it said.
The WIEF document also exhorted the governments in Islamic countries to provide an "efficient framework" to facilitate the movement of entrepreneurs, capital and trade flows between the OIC states.
Regional and sub-regional cooperation should be accelerated so that it leads to the establishment of an Islamic Free Trade Area, the declaration said.
The inaugural meeting of WIEF was held in Kuala Lumpur in October 2005 and the second Forum in Islamabad decided to hold the third session in the Malaysian capital from May 7 to 9 in 2007.
Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Malaysian counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Australian premier Bob Hawke and former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga contributed to the deliberations.
Over the three days, hundreds of local and foreign delegates discussed a wide range of economic issues.
The Malaysian prime minister, who is also current OIC head, stressed the need for 
exchanging expertise and knowledge to exploit natural resources and tap potential of Muslim countries.
The former Australian premier highlighted the importance of modern education in social-economic uplift, saying it would be the best investment for the generations to come.
During the interaction, Musharraf told the delegates that religious extremism and intolerance in Muslim societies were blocking their political and economic development.
Source :- www.islamicbanking.blogsome.com
