Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Thursday vowed to respect the will of southern Sudan citizens in the coming referendum, slated for Jan. 9, 2011, provided that the referendum be fair and transparent.
"We want to achieve unity and want our country to remain united, but we are committed to respect the will of the southerners if the referendum is conducted in a transparent, credible and free manner, " said al-Bashir when addressing the opening session of the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference ( OIC) on food security and agricultural development in Khartoum today.
"Our country is getting into an important phase in its history where it is seeking to achieve security, stability and comprehensive peace, and making ready to conduct south Sudan referendum as the last stage in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to which Sudan has fully committed," he added.
Al-Bashir reiterated the ability of the Sudanese people to overcome standing difficulties, sustain the peace and achieve comprehensive stability.
In the meantime, the Sudanese president stressed his country's desire to encourage foreign investment and provide preferential privileges for investors from Islamic countries.
"Many countries and organizations are categorizing Sudan among the most important four countries that are relayed upon to resolve the food crisis in the world and we hope that the brothers would make use of our available resources," he said.
The 5th OIC conference is scheduled to discuss working out strategic measures at the national, regional and international levels for the member states to overcome the international food crisis.
Participants are also to discus plans tending to establish a bank for seeds, food companies and a fund for food security.
Partake in the conference are representatives of 57 OIC member states, four monitoring countries, the United Nations, the Arab League, the African Union, the World Bank, the World Food Organization (FAO), the Islamic Development Bank and 35 other regional and international organizations.
Source:Xinhua
