D-8 Leaders Call for Efforts to Boost Trade

The heads of state and government of D-8 countries reaffirmed their commitment to peace, democracy, progress, dialogue, solidarity, tolerance and moderation as the core values and foundation for achieving economic prosperity and well-being of their peoples and called for fostering closer economic cooperation.

According to the ‘Islamabad Declaration’ issued following the 8th summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) countries, the leaders of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey reiterated the importance of consultation, coordination and joint efforts in economic and trade relations among the members and committed themselves to the realisation of a just and equitable international economic system based on the principle of sustainable and inclusive development that takes into account the profound impact of climate change.

‘The adoption of the Global Vision, collectively takes us on a new path of cooperation after we have concluded our mutually beneficial cooperation from Istanbul to Islamabad.’

They were confident that the principles and objectives enunciated in the D-8 Charter would improve interaction and pledged to work in solidarity to confront common challenges faced by the D-8 community.

Recognising the facilitating role of the government as catalyst of economic and trade cooperation, the member states underlined the importance of achieving intra D-8 investment and trade targets through greater cooperation in these areas.

They directed the commission and council of the organisation to explore, in consultation with national investment and trade promotion agencies, D-8 chambers of commerce and industry, business forums, strategies and plans for increasing D-8 trade and investment levels at the next summit. In this connection, they commended the untiring efforts by Nigeria during its chairmanship to promote private sector participation and cooperation among member countries.

The declaration noted with satisfaction the progress in the area of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and recognised the potential for its expansion within the D-8 community and requested member states to make concerted efforts to promote cooperation in this field, including through the promotion of micro-financing.

They welcomed the proposal of Egypt to create a portal on the D-8 website for the SMEs and another for the promotion of tourism.

It said that the strength of D-8 lay in solidarity and cooperation in the widest possible areas, including proactive liaison with and engagement in the activities of other regional organisations and institutions, in particular OIC, ECO, Asean, Saarc, Ecowas, Comesa and the Arab League.

The member states noted with great satisfaction the success of the organisation in development of the legal instruments and their ratification and operationalisation which provided the framework for its activities througha Visa Agreement, Customs Agreement, Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) as well as MoU on Civil Aviation and served to facilitate, regulate and promote concrete cooperation.

The declaration called upon the member states to assist the private sector in promoting effective liaison with the chambers of commerce at the national level towards utilising existing and emerging investment opportunities within the D-8 community. In this regard, it recommended effective use of the D-8 website’s Business Forum Page by the businessmen and companies.

The declaration welcomed the signing of memorandums of understanding with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Economic Cooperation Organisation and called upon the secretary general to exert every effort, in consultation with the member states, towards full implementation of their provisions.
The member states commended Pakistan for choosing ‘Democratic partnership for peace and prosperity’ as the theme of the Eighth D-8 Summit as well as for organising the D-8 Business Forum, meeting of D-8 central banks’ governors, first meeting of the heads of trade promotion organisations, a trade exhibition and interactive seminar on ‘Exploring trade opportunities among the D-8 countries’ on the margins of the summit.

They wished President Asif Ali Zardari every success during Pakistan’s chairmanship of the organisation and declared their support to him in this regard.

Organisation of the Month
D-8

1. D-8 or the Developing-8 was established on June 15, 1997 through the ______.
A. Jakarta Declaration
B. Dhaka Declaration
C. Istanbul Declaration
D. Cairo Declaration

2. Two of the D-8 member states are from Africa. One is Egypt and the other is ______.
A. Nigeria    B. Ghana
C. S. Africa    D. Zimbabwe

3. The Secretariat of D-8 is located in ______.
A. Kuala Lumpur    B. Islamabad
C. Istanbul    D. Tehran

4. Dr Widi Agoes Pratikto, the current Secretary General of the D-8 Organization is from _____.
A. Indonesia    B. Malaysia
C. Nigeria    D. Egypt

5. ______ is considered the main personality behind the establishment of D-8.
A. Benazir Bhutto
B. Hosni Mubarak
C. Mahateer Muhammad
D. Dr Necmettin Erbakan

6. Dr Necmettin Erbakan was the Prime Minister of ______ when D-8 was established.
A. Turkey    B. Malaysia
C. Indonesia    D. Nigeria

7. Seminar on Cooperation in Development which led to the establishment of D-8 was held in Istanbul in ______
A. October 1994
B. November 1995
C. October 1996
D. December 2007

8. In the recent summit, held in Islamabad, leaders of Bangladesh and _________ did not participate.
A. Iran         B. Egypt
C. Indonesia  D. Night

9. The D-8 Summit was held in Islamabad on ______
A. November 18, 2012
B. November 20, 2012
C. November 22, 2012
D. November 28, 2012

10. The first Summit of D-8 was held in Turkey on ______, 1997.
A. 15th May       B. 15th June
C. 28th July        D. 14th August

ANSWERS:
1.C   2.A   3.C  4.A
5.D   6.A   7.C  8.B
9.C   10.B