The Summit adopted an action plan listing ways to make the body more credible in the face of the global challenges.

The summit of Islamic leaders in Malaysia has put the spotlight on real issues facing the world’s 1.3 billion Muslims. Aspirations and concerns of the Ummah were articulately expressed in the declarations, resolutions and communiqués at the end of the 10th Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit which was held on 16-18 October 2003.

The Summit began with the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on 11 October and followed by the Preparatory Meeting of Islamic Foreign Ministers from 13-14 October. The official theme for the 10th Islamic Summit was "Knowledge and Morality for the Progress of the Ummah". The theme was chosen to show the importance of knowledge in the development of the Ummah. The Summit was held at the new Putrajaya Convention Centre.

Even before the meetings of OIC senior officials began, it was expected that the OIC summit would go beyond perfunctory speeches and political discussions. Since Malaysia is admired in much of the Islamic world for its industrialization success, it was fitting that a conference of leading scientists from the OIC countries preceded the summit. The 7-10 October science and technology conference in Kuala Lumpur called for substantial hikes in spending on research and development in the Islamic world. It urged the OIC members to pool their resources and create a fund for developing advanced industrial technologies.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf in an address to a business forum, the first such event held in conjunction with an OIC summit, spoke of poor economic progress in most Muslim countries. "The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the entire Ummah is roughly $1,400 billion while that of Japan alone is $4,500 billion," Musharraf told the forum, which was attended by top business leaders and a number of Islamic heads of state.

Muslim leaders should not enjoy power for themselves but make use of it judiciously, prudently and concertedly.

The leaders of the 57-member organization agreed that there was a need to increase intra-OIC trade and investment, exchange expertise and share experience in various fields. Possessing one-fifth of the world’s total land mass, 70% of the global energy resources and accounting for 40% of international raw material exports, the OIC’s true developmental potential remains to be exploited.

The agenda for progress should be based on the OIC unity, equality, pro-business policies and democratic principles. Malaysia has pledged that it will show leadership on these issues and seek the cooperation of the member states. "We commit ourselves and will together see through a new agenda for a more united Muslim Ummah and a more structured progress of raising the economic well-being of member states," Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in his closing remarks.

One recurrent theme at the summit was revitalization and restructuring of the OIC. "It is vital that the OIC General Secretariat establish a mechanism for fully implementing the recommendations," Dr Mahathir said. Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Pakistan are among the strongest proponents of reforms at the OIC so that the organization could discard its image of a toothless tiger.

Upon the conclusion of the Summit the leaders of the countries making up the Organization of the Islamic Conference issued a final statement urging non-Islamic cultures and civilizations to step up dialogue. The document says the trio of the OIC leaders—the incumbent and former presidents of the organization and the secretary general—will be representing the 57 member-states at the forums of other international and religious organizations. The OIC hopes those forums will be spearheaded at mutual understanding and fostering of religious tolerance among the people espousing different creeds and religious cults. The OIC statement also says the organization believes its main goal is to establish the image of Islam as a religion bringing peace and harmony to mankind. At Indonesia’s initiative, the statement indicates that a special workgroup set up at the summit is expected to produce a definition of terrorism as a phenomenon alien to the Islamic faith.

Malaysia’s success in organizing such a prestigious event won praise and due acknowledgement from several OIC leaders.

Malaysia has contributed its equity $215.79 million to IDB to help boost the infrastructure developments of OIC countries.

The Putrajaya Declaration also calls for special attention to be given to science and technology, information and communication technologies in the Islamic world. It calls for greater trade and economic cooperation within the OIC along with movement towards adopting the Malaysian initiative on a gold-based trade payment system. The declaration fully adheres to the summit’s theme of "Knowledge and Morality for the Unity, Dignity and Progress of the Ummah." The summit also heard calls for greater participation of people in the affairs of the state.

In his opening speech Dr Mahathir said Muslim leaders should not enjoy power for themselves but should make use of it judiciously, prudently and concertedly for "our people, the Ummah and Islam." On the last day of the summit, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami expressed similar views, calling for the OIC members to practice democratic principles.

Israel and the Jewish control of the Western world’s powerful countries have emerged as a real threat to many OIC members. The OIC resolutions condemned Israeli military occupation of Palestinian lands and threats against Syria and Lebanon. Enjoying U.S. and European patronage, the Jewish state is seen as the single most potential source of violence and conflict. That there is something mafia-like about Zionism, the ideology behind the state of Israel, which became apparent following reactions in the U.S., Europe and Australia to Dr Mahathir’s speech in which he referred to the power wielded by a few million Jews in the world.

The criticism of the speech was due to Western media reports that twisted selected passages to make the Prime Minister’s address look like an anti-Jewish tirade rather than what it was—a call to Muslims to gain more influence in global affairs. Giving vent to their propensity to sensationalism, those media groups were forced to climb aboard the petard of their own making as they drew derision in the wider international media community and severe rebukes from Islamic leaders. The undue controversy, however, failed to take the sheen away from the successful Islamic summit organized for the first time in the Asia Pacific region.

Malaysia’s success in organizing such a prestigious event won praise and due acknowledgement from several OIC leaders. Gains have been made in raising higher Malaysia’s standing in the Islamic world, but from now on its leadership would be put to the test in realizing the promises made at Putrajaya.

As an active member of the OIC, Malaysia has participated actively in many activities of the OIC. Malaysia is a member of four Contact Groups within the OIC. Malaysia is also appointed as chairman and member of the Thirteen Member Open Ended Group on Terrorism.

Malaysia has hosted several important OIC meetings and conferences at various levels in 2002 such as the Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers on Terrorism (1-3 April 2002), the OIC Contact Group on Sierra Leone (13-14 June 2002), the Follow-Up Meeting of Senior Officials’ of the Islamic Ministers of Tourism (5-7 September 2002) and The Seventh Conference of the Minister of Endowment and Islamic Affairs (6-10 May 2002).

On the economic front, Malaysia is among a few OIC countries that stresses the importance of economic cooperation among all OIC members. Malaysia has contributed its equity share amounting to $215.79 million in the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help boost the infrastructure developments of OIC countries. The other major roles currently played by Malaysia in the OIC are, restructuring of the OIC General Secretariat and the hosting of the 10th Islamic Summit.

Malaysia hopes that OIC will be able to function better and more efficient with the necessary commitment and support of all its member states. Malaysia believes that the OIC has a pivotal role to play in representing the Islamic Ummah in especially during times of great challenge as is being faced by the Ummah today.

"There is now a committee to devote attention to the measures that need to be taken to restructure the organization to make it more effective," the deputy prime minister told a media conference after opening the Fifth International Conference on Traditional and Complementary Medicines in Malaysia.

When asked what measures Malaysia would take as the new OIC chairman, he said it was important to implement the guidelines contained in the Putrajaya Declaration through the OIC secretariat. The 10th OIC Summit in Putrajaya ended with the adoption of a 12-point action plan under the Putrajaya Declaration listing out ways to make the body more credible in the face of the global challenges. The OIC leaders, among other things, agreed to review and analyze the organization’s position on international issues and underline strategies to strengthen unity among them at international fora.

Malaysia had in the past hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 1989, the 16th Commonwealth Games in 1998 and most recently, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Conference in February. The Summit meeting held at the PCC saw the biggest participation by Muslim leaders since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, with 33 heads of state and government attending. Senegal will host the 11th Organization of the Islamic Conference Summit in 2006. Malaysia will head the 57-member OIC for the next three years.

The Foreign Ministry’s Under-Secretary for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Maimon Sulaiman said the Registration and Accreditation System which used the smart card was the greatest achievement for the development team of the ministry’s ICT Division.

"This system played a vital role in providing venue security with real time access authentication to the registration database. Two types of cards were produced—the smart card and the conventional card for use by those involved in the conference."

Maimon said smart card readers were installed at the Putrajaya Convention Centre, the venue of the summit, and the Palace of the Golden Horses (POGH) where many heads of government or state stayed.

In preparation for the summit, a sub-committee for ICT facilities was formed comprising representatives from various ICT companies, which provided the components for the setting up of the communication and information infrastructure, she said, adding that the preparation started in April this year.

"Among the ICT facilities we put up was an intranet infrastructure which enabled the various secretariats to communicate with each other and an intranet that linked the PCC with the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), the 12 hotels where the delegates stayed, the Bukit Aman police headquarters and Wisma Putra," said Maimon, who headed the ICT sub-committee.

"This is the first time an OIC summit is fully connected by custom-built Internet System, thanks to the various parties, namely Jaring, MIMOS Smart Computing Sdn Bhd, Telecom, IBM, Cisco, Teliti and LMS. The delegates had the chance to surf the Internet via the Internet lounges in the PCC."

The Charter also seeks to coordinate action to safeguard the holy sites of Islam; support the struggle of the Palestinian people and assist them in recovering their rights and liberating their occupied territories as well as working to eliminate racial discrimination and all forms of colonialism; and creating a favorable atmosphere for the promotion of cooperation and understanding between member states and other countries.

The Charter enumerates principles which OIC member states undertake to inspire themselves from, in order to achieve the objectives of the organization. The Charter also enumerates the principles governing OIC activities, namely: Full equality among member states; observation of the right to self determination and non-interference in the internal affairs of member states; observation of the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of each State; the settlement of any dispute that might arise among Member States by peaceful means such as negotiations, mediation, conciliation and arbitration; A pledge to refrain, in relations among Member States, from resorting to force or threatening to resort to the use of force against the unity and territorial integrity or the political independence of any one of them.

In order to achieve its objectives, the organization has main bodies, secondary organs, institutions and specialized committees. The Islamic Conference is composed of the following main bodies: 

1. The Conference of Kings and Heads of State and Government, is the supreme authority of the Organization which meets once every three years to lay down the Organization’s policy

2. The Conference of Foreign Ministers, which meets once a year to examine a progress report on the implementation of its decisions taken within the framework of the policy defined by the Islamic Summit

In order to coordinate and boost its action, align its view points and stands, and be credited with concrete results in the various fields of cooperation: political, economic, cultural, social, spiritual and scientific, among member states, the Organization has created different committees, nearly all, at ministerial level, a number of which are chaired by Heads of State. The Al-Quds Committee, the Standing Committee for Information and Cultural Affairs (COMIAC), the Standing Committee for Economic and Trade Cooperation (COMCEC), the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technical Cooperation (COMSTECH) and the Islamic Peace Committee are the ones chaired by Heads of State. Fourteen committees which have been thus established, deal with other important issues such as Palestine, the Sahel, Afghanistan, and Kashmir.

The number and types of secondary organs and institutions, working toward the achievement of the OIC objectives, have been steadily increasing, and cover various areas of cultural, scientific, economic, legal, financial, sports, technological, educational, media, as well as vocational, social and humanitarian. Depending on their degree of autonomy vis-à-vis the parent organization, they are classified as subsidiary and specialized organs, or affiliated institutions.