Monday, October 3 2005 15:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kuala Lumpur: More than 40 Islamic nations today (Oct 3, 2005) urged their entrepreneurs as well as those in Muslim communities of India, China and Russia, to set up a body to promote investment and infrastructure development.

A declaration adopted this morning at the end of the first ever World Islamic Economic Forum, organised by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), said the private sector should set up a World Islamic Economic Development Corporation, with special focus on poor Muslim communities.

The body should identify and promote investments and infrastructure development projects in OIC member countries as well as Muslim communities worldwide, with special emphasis on less-developed ones, it said.

The three-day meet, also attended by delegates from India and billed as the 'Davos of the Muslim world,' saw leaders from the OIC calling on their brethren to leverage their full potential and harness their resources to tackle poverty and ensure an Islamic renaissance.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the current OIC Chairman, told the closing session today that the world's Muslim population of 1.5 billion provided a 'huge Islamic consumer market for our products and services.'

The declaration also urged the private sector to set up a World Islamic Businesswomen Network, as well as a World Islamic Education Trust funded by Muslim entrepreneurs and philanthropists to promote scholarship with special emphasis on science, information technology and vocational training.