President Kabbah In Malaysia For OIC Summit
By Yusuf Alghali

15th October 2003- President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah arrived in Kuala Lumpur, capital of the south-east Asian nation of Malaysia today Wednesday October 15, 2003, ahead of the formal opening of the 10th summit of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) scheduled to hold at the majestic Putrajaya Convention Centre.

Sierra Leone is a member of the 57-nation strong organisation set up with the hope of bringing together the entire Muslim population of the world to propel further collaboration and cooperation among them in various aspects of global interests.

This year, the gathering of heads of governments from almost every country with significant Muslim populations the world over will round up the conference from the 16th to the 18th October 2003, following the earlier ministerial preparatory meeting attended by Foreign Minister Momodu Koroma from 14th to 15th October 2003.

The official theme for the Kuala Lumpur summit is “Knowledge and morality for the progress of the Muslim Ummah” and reflects the need for member countries to arm themselves with the right knowledge and to tamper it with strong ethics and integrity. However, other summit themes are expected to reflect on the current situation in Iraq, the Middle East and other challenges faced by Muslims, including laying straight the misconceptions that surrounds the Islamic world.

Apart from the main summit that will discuss ways of strengthening bilateral trade, political and socio-economic development, the conference will also feature the “Expo OIC 2003” which will cover a wide spectrum of interests and industries such as oil and gas, medical, information technology, education, tourism, transportation and manufacturing, agriculture and food production, all of which are in many ways relevant to Sierra Leone’s post war reconstruction and development aspirations.

This gathering of leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers and businessmen will no doubt unveil new avenues and markets for trade and economic collaboration amongst these nations.

President Kabbah and entourage, who were met on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur Airport by the Malaysian Lady Foreign Minister and the Minister in the Prime Minister's department, Datuk Rais Yatim, had preliminary discussions focusing on possible technical collaboration between the two countries on oil palm cultivation and other agricultural produce. Malaysia is probably the leading world grower and exporter of palm oil, from which it earns millions of dollars annually.

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