The organization of the Trade Fair of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) falls within the framework of the decisions and recommendations issued in the field of economic cooperation among the OIC Member States and approved by the Islamic Summit Conferences and the various sessions of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation among the OIC Member States (COMCEC) as well as the Conferences and Councils of Foreign Ministers.

The Trade Fair of the OIC Member States, which has been held every two years since 1984 in Casablanca, is the biggest trade event of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation. It allows exhibitors from the 57 member countries to exchange the ways and means to boost trade and investments.
This fair is organized in collaboration with the Ministry in charge of foreign trade alongside the local fair organizing body and the OIC Institutions and other partners in trade development.

In this context, the COMCEC adopted a recommendation in 2002 requesting the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade to organize a trade fair for the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation every two years in one of the Member States.

This multi-sectorial Fair constitutes a platform for the business community, Trade Promotion Organs, Investment Promotion Agencies, Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Handicrafts, professional associations, and economic operators of the Member States for the promotion of their products and services, conclusion of commercial transactions and establishment of partnership relations.

Objectives:

The present Fair offers an opportunity to the OIC Member States:

• To exhibit products and services in various sectors with a view to developing and sustaining trade relations between the business communities of OIC countries.
• To strengthen regional economic integration, by targeting key sectors allowing the development of value chains and sectoral complementarities within the OIC space.
• To have access to information on market potentialities.
• To make direct contact between economic players from the public and private sectors;
• To exchange experiences between business communities, in order to create conditions for innovation in the field of promotion and marketing of products and services.

The previous editions of the Fair, which represented a space for exchanges and meetings, were a great success. The last three editions of the Fair were held in Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and have witnessed wide participation of the public and private sectors of about 40 countries with more than 300 companies.

Types of Activities Organized on the Sidelines of the Fair:

• Meeting of the Trade Promotion Organs of the OIC Member States,
• Meeting of Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs)
• Meeting of Private Sector organized by the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCIA)
• Investment Forums
• Training workshops on priority sectors
• Distribution of trophies to the most deserving pavilions according to the following criteria: exhibition area, quality of products and services to be exposed, number of exhibiting companies, the importance of the commercial delegation, regularity in the participation in the Fair.
• Workshops and seminars
• B2B meetings and deal rooms
• Awareness on the services offered by ICDT and other OIC institutions.