An Islamic Common Market is a concept which has a firm basis in Islamic History. The establishment of the Islamic State in Medina founded the first Common Market. The dismantling of tribal, cultural and racial barriers by Islam led to a society based on religious brother-hood which transcended geographical boundaries, and as a natural collorary, economic barriers were also simultaneously removed. This new system was to unleash the entrepreneurial and trading energies of the Muslim Arabs, who with the passage of time were determined to establish the greatest economic organisation the world has seen stretching from Morocco to Indonesia.

FULL STORY

About the Author

Mr. Salahuddin Kasem Khan is the present Chairman of AKTEL a Joint Venture between Telekom Malaysia and A.K Khan & Co. Ltd. Managing Director of A.K. Khan & Co. Ltd., Chairman of Coats (Bangladesh) Ltd. a joint venture with Coats U.K and Director of Bengal Fisheries Ltd., joint ventures with Mitsui & Maruha of Japan.

Mr. Khan born on 12.08.1947 in Chittagong and did his schooling from Aitchison College, Lahore, 1964 and graduated from the University of Punjab in 1968 and did Higher Legal Studies in London (1969-1972).

Mr. Khan is son of pioneer industrialist of Bangladesh, Late Janab A.K Khan, who was Member of Parliament 1947-1962, Former Federal Minister of Industries, Works, Mineral Resources, Power Irrigation Government of Pakistan (1958-1962).

Mr. Khan is immediate Past President of the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI). As BMCCI President, he was Chairman of the highly successful First Bangladesh-Malaysia Business Forum, 2004, held in Dhaka, with the participation of former Prime Minister of Malaysia H.E Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, as key note Speaker.

Former Chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, BTMA (1988-1990); 1st Chairman, Textile Council of Islamic Countries (TCIC) Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Karachi; Founder Director of the Chittagong Stock Exchange; Member, National Council for Industrial Development (NCID) headed by the President (1988-90); Member, Task Force on Industrial Policy, Ministry of Planning, GOB (1990); Former Chairman of UCEP-Bangladesh Board of Governors; and present Chairman, UCEP Chittagong Advisory Council and Chairman, Chittagong Skills Development Centre (CSDC).

He was appointed Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Turkey, Chittagong by the President of Turkey in 1984.

Mr. Khan holds a longstanding conviction and commitment to the gradual realization of the IFTA and an Islamic Common Market. The formation of SEACO (South East Asian Cooperation), under OIC Frame Work, is an objective towards this goal. Mr. Khan is the Chairman of the Private Sector SEACO TASK FORCE.

Mr. Khan attended the 1975 ILO Conference, where the original proposal was mooted for Bangladesh for the formation of a “Confederation of Islamic Chambers of Commerce among OIC Countries”. He attended the 1st Conference of Islamic Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Istanbul in 1976, and became a Member of its Constitution Drafting Committee in Jeddah, 1978, which was adopted at the Islamic Chamber Conference in Karachi in 1987.

At the Islamic Chamber General Assembly, Kuwait, 1981, on behalf of Bangladesh, Mr. Khan presented a proposal on “the Commission for the establishment of the Islamic Common Market”, which was unanimously adopted at the 4th Islamic Chamber General Assembly in Jakarta, 1983. At the First Meeting of the Trade Promotion Organization of OIC Member States in Istanbul, 1985, and on behalf of Bangladesh, proposed the establishment of “OIC Sectoral Common Markets”. At the 9th General Assembly of the Islamic Chamber, Karachi in 1991 moved a resolution “Toward an Islamic Common Market”. At the 10th Islamic Chamber General Assembly in Tehran, 1992, on behalf of Bangladesh, moved a resolution on the “Islamic Free Trade Area (IFTA)”, which was unanimously adopted.

As Bangladesh Delegate to the Indonesia-IDB Seminar, Bandung 1992, Mr. Khan moved a resolution advocating the formation of “South East Asian Cooperation (SEACO)”, under OIC Framework. SEACO was endorsed by the 24, 28, 29th Islamic Foreign Minister’s Conferences and re-endorsed by a Resolution of the 9th Islamic Summit Conference, Qatar, 2000.

Mr. Khan is a Member of the International Advisory Panel of the World Islamic Economic Forum, Putrajaya, Malaysia 2005.