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Why Islamic Common Market, if not an Islamic Union, is necessary? It is challenging but not impossible

Economic Power of any country is its real power in today’s world. Every other tangible and intangible element of national power without substantive economic power is worthless in international relations and global power politics. The world’s richest natural resource and human talent market with close to more than two billion potential consumers is a reasonably promising consumer community to start thinking of and working on!

2017

Zahid Hussain Khalid SUN & FZ Associates

2/20/2017

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Why Islamic Common Market, if not an Islamic Union, is necessary?

The world’s richest natural resource and human talent market with close to more than two billion potential consumers is a reasonably promising consumer community to start thinking of and working on!

A Few Facts and Realities

Economic Power of any country is its real power in today’s world. Every other tangible and intangible element of national power without substantive economic power is worthless in international relations and global power politics.

Expertise in commercial diplomacy is an essential pre-requisite to configure a country’s tangible and intangible elements of national power. This is exactly what the rulers of the emerging economies have done to break the barriers of demographic constraints and to get out of the debt trap.

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Markus Jaeger of Deutsche Bank Research has raised an important point in his report captioned, “The Great Risk Shift – or why it may be the time to rethink the developed-/emerging-markets distinction,” regarding emerging market credit metrics and qualitative improvement in macroeconomic management. He argues “… the distinction between Emerging Market-Developed market obscures more than it enlightens. When the world’s major economies were the largest economies with the highest degree of financial stability, the strongest external financial position (at least vis-à-vis less developed countries) and the highest per capita incomes, this distinction may have made sense. But following what may in the future be recalled as the ‘great risk shift’ regarding ‘developed’ and ‘emerging economies’, it may be time to re-think old labels and traditional distinctions – and established views of economic and financial risk,” demanding, though in assessment of sovereign default risk context, justification for “…the fact that until very recently Greece and China carried pretty much the same long-term foreign currency ratings. It looks odd that Greece with very limited macroeconomic flexibility due to EMU membership and a public debt burden exceeding 100% of GDP should be rated at the same level as China whose public debt amounts to a mere 25% of GDP and whose FX reserves exceed 45% of GDP.”

The growth rate advantage in emerging market economies is a planned outcome of emerging market credit metrics and qualitative improvement in macroeconomic management, “that,” according to Markus Jaeger “…the agencies have insufficiently taken into account.” Substantiating his argument he explains “…a typical, top-tier EM today has ‘excess’ FX reserves and does not suffer anymore from ‘foreign currency mismatches’, which were at the epicenter of virtually every EM crisis. Most emerging markets are also net external creditors. This has allowed the EM to overcome the ‘fear of floating’ and adopt more flexible exchange rate arrangements, making them far less vulnerable to balance-of-payments shocks. Meanwhile, the EM that do maintain rigid exchange rate regimes have more than sufficient FX reserves to back them up (e.g. China). The EM, by and large, have also strengthened their commitment to public debt sustainability – for the most part, they already have low public debt ratios. Last but not least, many EM have independent central banks, which has instilled greater confidence in economic stability and sharply diminished traditional concerns about “fiscal dominance”.

The above excerpts from my presentation on “Emerging Market’s Future: Business, Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Financing,” clearly indicate the following reasons for the rise of Emerging Markets as the Economic Growth Models: low debt to GDP ratio, higher FX reserves to GDP ratios, “credit metrics and qualitative improvement in macroeconomic management.” Agility Emerging Markets Logistic Index 2011 has been built up through three sub-indices: “The Market Size and Growth Attractiveness”; “Market Compatibility”; and “Connectedness”.

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Is there any room for the slightest doubt that the incomparably rich in natural resources and human talent Muslim world can perform equally good if not better than the Emerging Markets?

Let us look at the facts, realities and reasons for the serious consideration of the proposed idea of Islamic Common Market, Islamic Monetary Union and Islamic Currency as one of the possibly dominant player in the world markets, monetary realm and Basket of Currencies on their way to become a reality.

Facts:

1: Geographic,

Muslim world is the most cost-effective and convenient link between East and the West.

2: Demographic

One of the three largest populous communities with over one billion population and the highest per capita demographic dividend due to the highest percentage of young population.

3: Economic

The richest part of the world in wealth - trillions of dollars parked in offshore and onshore personal foreign accounts and Sovereign Wealth Funds - in natural resources and human talent.

4: Diplomatic

The most defamed, misrepresented and unrepresented part of the world.

5: Defense

One of the seven most powerful communities of the world alleged to be in possession of a much propagated large number of so far scare-crow like Islamic Nuclear Bombs too!

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6: Political

Heads of majority of ruling and opposition parties and authoritarian rulers are now globally known for their stories of alleged corruption and other crimes. This is the most disappointing and damaging weakness of the Islamic World!

The Consequences

The rulers of the Muslim countries had realized the importance of creating a united platform of Muslim countries like OIC but failed to take necessary steps by using the collective strength of the Muslim countries to resolve Palestinian and Kashmir as well as other pre and post-9/11 issues which demanded their immediate attention and forceful unanimous stand for their solution.

Their failure to timely respond to the condemnable acts of ridiculously and baselessly declaring Islam as a Radical Religion and all the Muslims as Terrorists emboldened the successive American governments, one after the other, to declare direct and indirect proxy wars and infiltrate insurgents in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria as well as threatening Iran and Pakistan also every now and then.

The recently elected President Donald Trump has crossed all limits of irresponsible diplomatic behavior by announcing an exclusive travel ban on travelers from seven Muslim countries and insisting on further actions even after two court verdicts have removed his unconstitutional, unlawful and racist ban condemned by American and British citizens more forcefully than the citizens and rulers of the Muslim countries which proves that whatever has happened so far in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Kashmir, Palestine and even Pakistan needs to be probed seriously for determining the motives behind the direct military attacks of more than three dozen countries under NATO/ISAF on Afghanistan, American and British joint military attack on Iraq, disbanding of Iraqi armed forces and judicial murder of Saddam Hussain, insurgency in Libya and murder of Moammar Qaddafi, insurgency in Syria and Direct American and Russian military attacks which have destroyed thousands of houses of

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innocent Syrians, killed thousands of them, made millions of them homeless, internally displaced and refugees.

After the probe, if it is proved that all the above military actions were not meant to address terrorism but were the “unprovoked” acts of military aggression and unlawful intervention in the internal political affairs of the Muslim countries on false grounds than OIC must approach the International Court of Justice to file cases against all those who had initiated and participated in such actions violating international law, Geneva Convention and laws governing sectarian genocide to settle the issue of branding Islam as Radical and Muslims as Terrorists for good focusing on the following realities.

The Realities

The overall unquestionable strengths of Muslims have turned into disappointing weaknesses by the harmful division of Muslim countries in different conflicting groups for baseless political, ethnic and sectarian reasons as well as unproved factual or baseless charges of alleged corruption and other crimes leveled against most of Muslim rulers in national and international media.

During the short lived Travel Ban imposed on travelers of seven Muslim countries the most humanely behavior of hundreds of thousands of American and British citizens and tens of thousands of citizens of other non-Muslim countries was very heartening to note that they had come out of their homes to protest purely for demanding justice On Behalf of those Muslims who according to them were Innocent and who had Nothing to Do with Radical Islam and Terrorist Activities.

The different governments in USA and UK since the Presidential Term of Carter are working on an unreasonable policy of weakening the Muslim countries from within and outside by supporting compliant and removing defiant rulers on evidently false grounds through Psy-War and Military Operations other than War declaring Islam as Radical and Muslims as Terrorists.

These countries turned against the same Muslims who had helped them in winning the Cold War against the former Soviet Union for which they had proudly recruited, trained, equipped, financed and deployed Mujahedeen from different Muslim countries. After winning the War in Afghanistan, they NOT only rebranded Mujahedeen as terrorists but the entire Muslim world, particularly those Muslim countries, which had helped them in War against former Soviet Union which is height of Diplomatic Hypocrisy.

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This was just a thankless humiliating strategic policy U-turn by the governments of USA, UK and their allies and so provocative for shaking up the entire Muslim world for uniting against them and asking them to shut up and behave. Why? The Muslim rulers did not give American governments a shut up call asking them to behave because a United Muslim World, in reality, Does Not Exist for practical purposes in its True Islamic Sense which is the essential pre-condition for at least protesting on an absolute nonsense like condemnable branding of Islam as Radical, Muslims as Terrorists and Nuclear Bombs of Pakistan as Islamic Bombs for a group of countries who have nothing in common on religious grounds to unite them except Islam.

Can Pakistan's or Iran's Nuclear Bombs, if Iran had or could have one, help in any way either USA, UK, their allies and even Muslim countries to declare it an Islamic Nuclear Bomb?

If Islamic (NOT Pakistani or Iranian) Nuclear Bombs were symbolically really there than:

1. How come more than three dozen countries dared to attack militarily insignificant Afghanistan?

2. How Iraq was attacked on evidently false grounds?

3. How Libyan head of state was inhumanely murdered without committing any crime?

4. How Syria, an independent sovereign country, is almost destroyed just to remove a ruler?

5. How the lives of Kashmiris in Indian Held Kashmir are turned into hell?

6. How Palestine is not liberated or Palestinians are not given the right to coexist with peace loving Israeli Jews as equal citizens?

7. How India dares to violate Pakistan's boundaries every now and then?

Perhaps they think that the rulers and military commanders of Pakistan don't know what Kennedy had done to demand the removal of Soviet Missile from Cuba. Pakistan, if the country really had a so-called Islamic Bomb, could have had asked Indian rulers and military commanders to keep in mind what Kennedy had done to demand the withdrawal of troops from Indian Held Kashmir

There is ONLY ONE simple answer to all the above questions: the grouping of Muslim countries on the basis of unfounded ethnic, sectarian and personal political priorities, fears, likes and dislikes of the Muslim rulers. They are totally oblivious of their collective strength and unique potential power to put their foot down and have the final say on anything that happens anywhere in the world. They are using this power against each other instead of using against their collective enemies who are so far not as natural resource and human talent rich as the Muslims countries are.

If they cannot unite for political reasons, why can’t they unite at least for mutual economic benefits?

Don’t the Muslim countries have enough reasons to take steps for strictly regulated Islamic Common Market with following objectives?

All the Islamic countries need to develop a Joint Pool of Natural Resources, Human Talent and Armed Forces on the pattern of European Union and NATO managed by technocrats of global acclaim which is to be shared with each other on Mutually Agreeable Terms and Conditions.

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The Foundation Stone

Islamic Development Bank has to be restructured on the pattern of but with a different approach than that of World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, European Commercial Bank, Chinese Infrastructure Development Fund with improvements to shift its scope from importing manufacturing products to building a network of high-tech manufacturing base focusing on resource and talent location, economy of scale, size of Islamic Market and geo-logistic advantages; scientifically sustainable shift from interest based lending to social sector investments for introduction of a strictly regulated and reinvented uniform education system for all from play group to PhD levels; integrated multi-sector job creation initiatives based on Work Integrated Learning beginning from pre-O & A Levels; ensuring employability with rationally uniform pay structures, minimum gaps in salary slabs and elimination of stock share options, job security and post retirement benefits; state-funded free uniform quality health facilities for all; access to justice through a restructured judicial system with minimum possible affordable fixed cost of filing cases, prosecution and defense proceedings payable to advocates by the Ministries of Law of every Muslim country based on their experience; complete ban on privately owned security agencies performing the functions of police which have failed to perform only a single function in majority of the Muslim countries and that is to control and minimize crimes. How the finances for such an Expansive Budget will be arranged?

All the Muslim countries will withdraw their deposits from each and every offshore company and deposit in Islamic Development Fund without disclosing the names and political, economic and either entrepreneurial or professional status of the account holders to ensure privacy for which they transfer their personal undeclared wealth through offshore companies in countries which are aggressively involved in military actions in different Muslim countries. The operational expanses of Islamic Development Bank will be jointly shared by the Muslim countries which they are already doing and which are not expected to involve hundreds of millions of dollars.

Once the financial base is put in place the next step will be to carry out a comprehensive country to country SWOT Analysis of the state of social and economic sector performance for scientifically determining the precise positions of strength and concerns of vulnerability for developing an Overall Strategic Policy Framework for Islamic Common Market followed by a Comprehensive Plan of Action with Implementation Timeline.

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It is the right time to begin working on this proposal because the future wars will not be fought with military weapons and armies of the soldiers but marketing of the products, commodities and services. Those countries which are not thinking of and working on scale of economies to take the prices to rock bottom, they will be made economically unviable no matter technologically how advanced and innovative they are. Such countries will also not have any option but to depend on countries leading in trade and which will eventually enslave them if they are not prepared to compete.

A natural resource and human talent rich market with close to more than two billion potential consumers is a reasonably promising market to start thinking of and working on!!!

The Weaknesses and the Only America, the Great Game and End of the Independent Muslim Strength of the Muslim World the Greater Middle East in a World Global World

https://www.slideshare.net/19540201