Within the scope of the 38th Ministerial Session of COMCEC, a panel on the “OIC/COMCEC International Investment Fund”, which was established in order to strengthen the capital markets of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was held on November 29th, 2022. In the panel, an overview of OIC capital markets, the importance and challenges of OIC capital markets, digitalization and digital assets, the investment criteria of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), as well as challenges faced and solutions provided during the establishment of the Fund, the investment opportunities it offers, its sustainability, how it can contribute to the OIC capital markets were discussed. OIC national delegations, OIC financial institutions, investors, relevant experts and academics participated in the panel.
The importance of capital markets in today's world, especially for OIC economies, was emphasized in the panel. The importance of the Fund has been elaborated on within the context of the need for cooperation among the OIC capital markets and the tools and mechanisms that can be developed in the face of increasing awareness and demand.
Moderated by Borsa İstanbul International Relations Director Dr. Mahmut Aydoğmuş; Dr. Zamir Iqbal, Vice President and CFO of the Islamic Development Bank, Mr. Oğuz Zıddıoğlu, Portfolio Manager at Ziraat Portfolio Management, Prof. Habib Ahmed, Durham University Faculty Member, and Dr. Seven İpek, Chief Specialist at Takasbank Global Custody and Numbering Team have participated in the panel.
OIC/COMCEC International Investment Fund
With the efforts of the OIC Exchanges Forum, an index containing 50 stocks from 19 OIC Exchanges is calculated by S&P. Based on this index, the “OIC/COMCEC International Investment Fund” was established.
The Fund invests in 7 OIC Stock Exchanges (UAE, Indonesia, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye), which have more than 95% weight in the Index. The international custody service is carried out by Citibank, and order transmission is carried out by the intermediary called Mubashir. On August 2nd, 2022, the Fund started trading on TEFAS, the fund trading platform at Takasbank.
OIC Exchanges Forum (Forum)
The Forum was established with the decisions of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC). Borsa İstanbul acts as the Secretariat of the Forum. Providing the cooperation and communication between Exchanges, the Forum also offers participants the opportunity to share their experiences and develop joint projects.
The 16th meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Exchanges Forum, which is held every year, was held on October 11th, 2022, hosted by Borsa İstanbul. A total of 106 representatives from 20 Exchanges, 7 clearing and custody institutions and 9 sectoral institutions attended the meeting. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Exchanges Statistical Report and quarterly Newsletters were shared with the members as done every year. Other activities carried out by the Forum include the following:
Organization of Islamic Cooperation Gold Project
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation Gold Project is the evaluation of the applicability of the blockchain-based BiGA (One Gram of Gold) gold transfer system, which provides 24/7 transfer between banks in our country, among the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in order to overcome the physical transfer problem in gold trade between the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Academic Conference and Training Programs
On 11-12 May 2022, Borsa İstanbul organized a training program on "Capital Market Operations" for the Exchanges of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in cooperation with the Islamic Countries Statistics, Economic and Social Research and Training Center.
Within the scope of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Exchanges Forum, an academic conference on "Sustainability in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Countries" was held on October 12th, 2022, exchanges and academicians were brought together, academic studies and policy recommendations on the subject were discussed. Selected articles will be published in Borsa İstanbul Review Special Issue.
