DUSHANBE, October 27, 2014, Asia-Plus – Negative effects of global challenges today pose threat to many member nations of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon made this remark today while inaugurating here the First Investment Forum on the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Plan of Action for Cooperation with Central Asia.

“Among them are effects of global financial and economic crisis, high poverty rate, limited access to safe drinking water, food and electric power, shortcomings in the educational and health sectors, spread of infectious diseases, climate changes as well as rapidly changing international and regional trends,” Emomali Rahmon noted.

To add to these problems, transnational occurrences, such as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings and organized crime, also pose threat to many OIC member nations, Tajik leader noted.

He further noted that the OIC member with nearly 70 percent of oil and 50 percent of natural gas reserves of the world occupied an important place in world’s economy.

Rahmon also underlined an important role of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in investment in the economies of the OIC poor member nations.

Tajik president noted that 53 investment projects had been implemented in Tajikistan in cooperation with the Islamic organizations, with 41 of them having been supported by the IsDB.

“Currently, 11 joint investment projects are being implemented in our country in cooperation with the IsDB and other Islamic organizations,” President Rahmon said.