Istanbul, Turkiye - 4 November 2025 – The Director General of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn, participated in the 41st Ministerial Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), held on 3–4 November 2025 in Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye.
The Ministerial Session was officially inaugurated by H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, who reaffirmed the importance of strengthening solidarity and cooperation among OIC Member States across key development areas, including food security, trade, investment, and resilience-building. During the opening segment, H.E. Mr. Hissein Brahim Taha, Secretary General of the OIC, delivered a statement highlighting the Organization’s efforts to enhance coordinated action to address shared challenges.
On the margins of the COMCEC proceedings, Ambassador Aryn held several high-level consultations to deepen institutional cooperation and explore new programmatic opportunities with Their Excellencies Mr. Serigne Guèye Diop, Minister of Trade & Industry of the Republic of Senegal, Mrs. Latifa Elbouabdellaoui, Director General of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, Secretary General of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation. The discussions focused on joint initiatives in food security, trade facilitation for agricultural products, private-sector engagement, and technology transfer in agri-food systems. All parties expressed readiness to strengthen collaboration to advance shared development priorities in the OIC and D-8 Member States.
On 4 November, Ambassador Aryn participated in the Ministerial Working Breakfast on Syria, chaired by H.E. Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz, the Vice President of the Republic of Türkiye. In his intervention, the IOFS Director General outlined the components of the planned “IOFS-Syria Strategic Cooperation Proposal”, aimed at supporting agricultural recovery, capacity development, and resilience of the food system in Syria. He emphasized IOFS’ continued commitment to humanitarian-development synergies and pragmatic engagement in support of the Syrian people.
The Director General’s participation, assisted by Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Chief Multilateral Relations Officer, in the 41st COMCEC Ministerial Meeting underscored the IOFS’s dedicated role in advancing multilateral initiatives to ensure food security, foster agricultural transformation, and contribute to socioeconomic stability across the OIC region.
