From Cooperation to Impact: OIC Roadmap to Building Economic Power (4/4)

Introduction

Edited by: Eng. Fisal Musa

In this final article of the series (4/4), Dr. Malek Ali Dongola moves from the 2035 contracting strategy to a broader economic vision for the OIC, proposing to transform 57 countries into One Economic Power through infrastructure, the 100 Projects Initiative, and empowering the private sector as an executive partner.

From Cooperation to Impact: Roadmap of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to Build Economic Power (4/4)

By Dr. Eng. Malek Ali Dongola

In the previous articles we discussed the future of the contracting industry in Islamic countries, moving from sustainable construction to the development of contracting companies, then to a strategic vision for the Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries until 2035. However, important as the contracting sector is, it is only part of a larger economic picture.

If it is possible to link contracting companies, projects, financing and expertise within one system, then the more ambitious question is: Can the same idea be applied at the economic level of the entire Organization of Islamic Cooperation?

It is worth noting that the Organization of Islamic Cooperation includes 57 countries, spread across strategic locations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world, and collectively possesses huge natural resources, vast markets, capital, human resources, financial and development institutions and a large base of companies and expertise.

Hence, the issue is not the absence of elements of economic power, the issue is how to transform these scattered elements into an organized, integrated and influential economic power. This, in my estimation, should be one of the major strategic issues in the next phase: from economic cooperation to economic integration.

Especially since the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and its institutions have played an important role over decades in strengthening relations and cooperation between member states, but the transformations witnessed by the global economy impose on us to move to a new stage.

The world is going through a phase of comprehensive reshaping of supply chains amid fierce competition over technology, energy, food and raw materials in parallel with the rise of more cohesive economic blocs, and in this scene, the ability of countries to engage in collective economic systems emerges as one of the most important balances of power.

Accordingly, our ambition should not stop at merely increasing the rates of intra-trade, as pivotal as it is, but must go beyond it to a comprehensive integration model linking trade, investment, joint production, infrastructure, financing, technology and supply chains.

Increasing trade exchange remains insufficient as long as our societies depend on the outside for importing production inputs. But when we localize manufacturing to transform raw materials into final products inside our countries, with financing from our national institutions, transporting them through our infrastructure and marketing them by our companies, we lay the first building block for a truly sovereign economic integration.

One Economic Power

Hence, the Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries proposes a vision that carries a clear concept: "57 Countries.. One Economic Power". This phrase does not mean creating a unified market in the legal or political sense, nor abolishing national specificities, but rather means building an economic system for practical cooperation that makes it easy to link opportunities with financing, projects with companies and countries with markets.

When one country owns a project and a second country has technical expertise and a third has capital and a fourth has industrial capacity and a fifth has a market, there must be mechanisms that make the gathering of these elements a natural matter and not an exception. This is the essence of economic integration.

We do not always need new institutions, especially since the Islamic cooperation system already possesses a wide range of economic, financial and professional institutions, including development, financial, commercial and professional institutions, in addition to chambers, federations and the private sector.

Therefore, the priority is not to create more institutions, but rather to link existing institutions and integrate their roles around specific goals and projects.

Consideration can be given to establishing a council or mechanism for economic coordination under the umbrella of the Organization that brings together economic and financial institutions, professional organizations and representatives of the private sector. The difference here is that instead of coordination being based on exchanging reports, it becomes based on a practical question: what projects and opportunities can we implement together.

The Private Sector from Presence to Partnership

Among the most important required transformations is redefining the role of the private sector. Companies, investors, contractors, banks, factories and technology companies should not be merely participants in conferences and forums, but should become partners in designing and implementing economic initiatives.

This will be through establishing a permanent forum for the private sector in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, not just an annual conference, but a continuous platform for monitoring opportunities and obstacles, forming alliances, proposing projects and communicating with governments and financing institutions. In the end, the economy does not move by decisions alone, but moves with companies, capital and investments.

Infrastructure is the Basis of Integration

From our experience in the contracting sector, economic integration cannot be achieved without infrastructure linking markets. Trade needs roads, investment needs energy, industry needs water and industrial zones, supply chains need ports, railways, airports and logistics centers, and the digital economy needs communication networks, data centers and digital infrastructure.

Therefore, the Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries proposes launching the "Infrastructure Program for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation" with the aim of identifying priority projects that can link two or more countries, or support trade, investment and supply chains between member states, and thus the contracting sector becomes a tool of economic policy, not a sector separate from it.

The 100 Projects Initiative

Structuring ideas and transforming them into attractive investment opportunities. It is also possible to expand in Sukuk tools, green financing, public-private partnership, and infrastructure funds, where the fundamental goal is not limited to securing liquidity, but goes beyond it to designing projects with complete standards that motivate financing entities to invest in them.

Developing the Role of Affiliated Organizations and Federations

Enhancing economic efficiency requires redefining the roles of federations and bodies affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and moving them from merely representative bodies to executive partners relying on their direct relationships with the private sector and markets.

This is achieved through distributing specializations and development through practical questions and clear indicators such as how much did the percentage of intra-trade increase? How much financing was the alliance able to mobilize? How many companies expanded their business towards the markets of member states? And how many job opportunities were provided for youth? When these numbers become the criterion for success, theoretical goals turn into early projects and tangible infrastructure linking markets and making a real economic difference.

From 32 Countries to an Economic Space of 57 Countries

The Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries, through its presence in about 32 countries, represents a practical model that can be built upon to launch towards a broader economic space that includes all 57 member states. The goal does not stop at the borders of the contracting sector, but lies in our ability to transform this professional bloc into the main engine of a comprehensive economic system, so we link contractors with projects, projects with financing, financing with investment, production and trade, until all markets are connected with strong infrastructure. With this interconnected path, we transform from mere scattered statistics and numbers into a real economic power in which resources and opportunities are integrated.

Economic Power is Not Enough..

Resources alone are not enough to create economic power; the lesson is always in organizing and directing them within an institutional vision that combines the private sector, projects, and financing.

The slogan "57 Countries.. One Economic Power" is based on investing in diversity, not abolishing it; the country that owns energy meets with those that own capital, technology, agricultural lands, expertise, or consumer market to establish major projects.

Hence, the Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries proposes a radical transformation in the philosophy of joint work, which is the transition from the logic of cooperation to partnership and integration, and from disabled potentials to existing projects, so that the nation has a wider market, greater investment, and a solid economic voice on the international stage.

Achieving the slogan "57 Countries.. One Economic Power".

In conclusion, I believe that the transition of the economies of member states from the stage of theoretical coordination to the horizons of actual integration is no longer a secondary option, but a strategic necessity imposed by the variables of the global scene, and that the vision carried by the Federation of Contractors in Islamic Countries is based on transforming these scattered energies into tangible projects, cross-border alliances, and innovative financing tools, and when the efforts of the private sector join with financing and technological institutions, we will not be facing merely scattered initiatives, but rather an integrated economic system comprising 57 countries that transforms its diverse capabilities into an influential investment force and a solid and audible economic voice on the international stage.

The huge potentials possessed by our countries of capital, energy, technology, lands and human cadres must be organized and transformed into projects that revitalize our markets and provide opportunities for our peoples.

Embodying the slogan "57 Countries.. One Economic Power" begins with clear steps and serious field implementation of the first joint projects; with executive field work and tangible numbers we measure success, and from the movement of major projects the Islamic nation creates its bright economic future.