Foreign Minister Abdelatty highlighted the mounting challenges still facing many OIC member states, including high levels of poverty, unemployment, and stark disparities in development.

He also pointed to cross-border threats, most notably food and water security and refugee crises, which require furthering focus on economic and developmental cooperation, along with enhancing intra-OIC trade and investment cooperation.

Abdelatty called for reviewing the OIC Investment Agreement on investment promotion and protection to better support intra-OIC economic ties.

The top Egyptian diplomat emphasized the importance of harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that pose challenges for some societies, particularly due to the displacement of certain jobs and the need for its governance within the framework of international law.

He added that the AI has the potential to create new job opportunities in other sectors and help narrowing the gap between developing and developed countries, if utilized effectively.

Egypt calls for the establishment of a specialized working group under the umbrellas of the OIC to explore ways to strengthen cooperation among member states on applying AI to sustainable development initiatives.

"The growing wave of Islamophobia cannot be overlooked," Abdelatty said, calling for strengthening the role of religious and media institutions in OIC countries to defend the true image of Islam and counter distortion campaigns through constructive dialogue based on accurate information.

He called for serious institutional reform of the OIC, emphasizing the need to modernize its mechanisms to keep pace with the vast global economic and social changes, and to respond effectively to mounting regional and global challenges. (MENA)

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