Is the organization of islamic cooperation promoting trade among members?

Although a potential market of 56 countries with 1.6 billion consumers,far greater than the european union,the bilateral trade among the members of the organization of islamic cooperation (oic) is marginal. even though many initiatives have been undertaken to bolster the economic cooperation and enhance the bilateral trade,little is known about the success of such strategies. as such,this paper estimates the effect of the membership of oic on international trade. the results suggest that membership of the oic has a significant positive effect on trade and present a viable opportunity for the bloc to enhance bilateral trade. © 2014 pakistan journal of statistics.