Gambian President to attend OIC summit in Saudi Arabia
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - Gambian President Adama Barrow, will travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend the 14th session of the summit of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (IOC).
Despite failing to host the 2019 forum in Banjul, President Barrow, accompanied by a high-level delegation, will leave the Banjul International Airport on Thursday, said an official statement sent to PANA.
The summit, holding under the theme 'Hand in hand towards the future', was initially planned to be hosted by the Gambia in. The venue was changed several weeks ago due to the delay in the completion of the necessary infrastructure.
"The summit will give the Organisation’s member countries the opportunity to deliberate on issues of common interest concerning peace, security, development, culture and Islamic solidarity", said the communiqué.
The Gambian government postponed the hosting of the 2019 OIC Summit to 2022, following a series of high-level consultations held with other African countries on the limited time available to have the needed infrastructure ready for the successful hosting of the 2019 OIC Summit.
Meanwhile, the Government, in preparation for the summit, established the national OIC Secretariat in February 2018 to oversee the successful organization and hosting of the Summit.
-0- PANA MSS/VAO 29May2019
