Challenges for OIC tourism discussed in 2015 report

Source: SESRIC.

SESRIC has launched International Tourism in the OIC Countries: Prospects and Challenges 2015 during the 9th Session of Islamic Conference of Tourism Ministers (ICTM), which was held in Niamey-Niger between 21 and 23 December 2015.

Overall, the report sheds light on the challenges of tourism development in the OIC member countries and the issue of tourism cooperation among them, listing some recommendations as policy guidelines.The report examines the performance and economic role of international tourism sector in the OIC member countries in the latest five-year period for which the data are available. The report analyses the two traditionally used indicators in measuring international tourism, i.e. international tourist arrivals and international tourism receipts. Moreover, the report provides detailed analysis on the state of the intra-OIC tourism.

Islamic tourism has a great potential for sustainable growth and significant contribution to the development of the overall tourism sector in the OIC member countries, as is reflected by a special section in the 2015 report. 

Finally, the 2015 version of the report of SESRIC discusses in details the potential role of the public-private partnership (PPP) modality for the development of the tourism sector in the OIC member countries.

At the event, SESRIC also contributed to the selection of the next OIC Capital City of Tourism by providing detailed scoring results to the selection committee on the nominee cities. According to the results of the selection committee, the Ministerial Session adopted Madina al-Munawarra in KSA and Tabriz in Iran as the OIC Capital City of Tourism for 2017 and 2018, respectively. Jerusalem was picked in 2014 as the OIC Capital City of Tourism for 2016. 

Interested?

View the OIC Tourism Report 2015 online in English, Arabic, or French (PDF)

SESRIC publishes study on reducing poverty with waqf and Islamic microfinance

Source: SESRIC.

Integration of Waqf and Islamic Microfinance for Poverty Reduction: Case Studies of Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, edited by Professor Savas Alpay, Director General of the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), and Mohamed Aslam Haneef, Professor at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), presents the outcome of a two-year research collaboration between SESRIC and the Centre for Islamic Economics at IIUM. 

The research project covered three Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and aims to develop an integrated waqf-based Islamic microfinance model to optimise the use of combined resources of waqf and Islamic microfinance institutions in OIC countries. It is anticipated that such an optimisation will ultimately enhance the effectiveness of IMF and waqf institutions in addressing the socioeconomic needs of the society, particularly through effective poverty alleviation programmes.

The report consists of four main sections, starting with a brief overview of poverty in OIC countries, poverty alleviation programmes in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh and then discussing the potential of waqf as another viable source for financing microfinance institutions in these three countries. 

Section two presents the Integrated Waqf-based Islamic Microfinance (IWIM) model, which comprises six components, waqf, Islamic microfinance, human resources, takaful, project financing and poverty alleviation, plus relevant hypotheses. In order to test the hypotheses of the IWIM model in the three countries, the next section discusses research methodology while the last section focuses on the empirical findings and policy recommendations.

The conceptual IWIM model treats the waqf institution as the “funding agency” and the Islamic microfinance institution as the “implementing agency” that is offering microfinance services together with takaful services and financing human resource development programmes. A fifth component, project financing, to which is be provided by the Islamic microfinance institution, was added to the model. 

According to the report, there is strong indication that the IWIM model can be a viable alternative model for poverty alleviation. The report reaffirms that microfinance is an important institution in the fight against poverty and that Islamic microfinance provides additional value in the context of riba-free financing. Furthermore, the report says that the IWIM model can successfully help microfinance institutions to overcome two major challenges, the provision of financing at lower cost and the facilitation of human resource development programmes.

View the online version here.

OIC Infographics Series emphasises potential of OIC countries

In a joint attempt to give the data users the ability to instantly grasp a statistical theme, SESRIC and Fajr Capital have joined forces to launch the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Infographics series.

Infographics combine text and graphical visualisations of complex information such as graphs, maps or diagrams to make messages and trends clearer. 

The series includes infographics on trade & investment, science & technology, Islamic finance, education, demography, and agriculture, with a focus on the potentials of OIC countries.

The series can be viewed here.