GSO participates in the 19th General Assembly meeting of SMIIC in Istanbul
President of the GCC Standardization Organization (GSO) participated in the nineteenth General Assembly meeting of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), which was held on 13 November 2024 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkey.
In his speech at the opening session of the meeting, His Excellency Engineer Nawaf bin Ibrahim Al Mana, President of GSO, outlined the role of GSO in unifying various standardization activities and following up on their implementation and adherence with in cooperation and coordination with member states, which in effect contributes to ensuring the safety of products and efficiency of provided services to facilitate intra-trade between member states and preventing unnecessary technical barriers to trade, in order to achieve economic integration and improve the quality of life, in accordance with international practices.
His Excellency also affirmed GSO commitment to developing and sustaining its relations with corresponding organizations to support regional and international standardization, and to strengthen its strategic partnership with SMIIC in coordinating and enhancing various standardization activities through harmonizing standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment procedures, notification activities, capacity building programmes, exchange of information and knowledge, and other areas incorporated in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two sides.
His Excellency President of GSO also hailed the role of SMIIC in strengthening the infrastructure of standardization and quality, and promoting and supporting integration, competitiveness and economic development among the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation(OIC).
It is worthwhile mentioning that the annual meetings of SMIIC were held during 10-13 November 2024 in Istanbul, Turkey, during which elections were held for the Board of Directors of SMIIC. The elections resulted in the United Arab Emirates winning the position of Chairman of the Metrology Council (MC), and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as Vice President of the Metrology Council. The UAE also secured seats on the SMIIC Board of Directors (BoD), the Standardization Management Council (SMC), and the Accreditation Management Council (AC). Kingdom of Saudi Arabia obtained its membership in the SMIIC Councils as well for the period (2025-2027), by which member states enhance their positions and preserves their achievements in supporting regional and international standardization.
The meetings also discussed the ways to enhance quality infrastructure in Islamic member countries with a view to support and facilitate intra-trade, trade exchanges, and supporting economic integration among Islamic countries, in addition to recognition and acceptance of these products in global markets.
