Bangladesh is expecting to ‘strengthen’ its position in multilateral diplomacy by hosting the 10th D-8 summit on April 8.
Trade, investment, mineral resources, tourism, ICT, climate and Rohingyas will be the issues of discussion in the developing eight Muslim countries grouping, Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen said at a virtual briefing on Wednesday.
The summit will be held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will join her counterparts of Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey at the summit.
Through the summit, Bangladesh will assume the chairmanship of D-8 for the term of two years from Turkey.
“This will open new doors for Bangladesh in the international arena,” the foreign minister said, adding that the summit and the chairmanship would also open up “opportunities for the expansion of multilateral diplomatic cooperation”.
“We hope that with the dedicated efforts of all of us, Bangladesh will be able to host successfully the Summit and thereby strengthen Bangladesh's position in multilateral diplomacy,” he said.
D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation among the member states. The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997.
The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states’ position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living.
It is a global arrangement rather than a regional one, as the composition of its members reflects. It is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multi-lateral commitments of the member states , emanating from their membership to other international or regional organizations, according to the D-8 Secretariat.
Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari from Malaysia is currently the Secretary General of the D-8 Organization with its Secretariat in Istanbul,Turkey.
The idea of cooperation among major Muslim developing countries was mooted by Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, the then Prime Minister of Turkey, during a Seminar on “Cooperation in Development” which was held in Istanbul in October 1996.
The group envisioned cooperation among countries stretching from South East Asia to Africa. Representatives from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan attended the Seminar.
This conference was the first step towards the establishment of D-8 and it was only after a series of preparatory meetings that D-8 was set up officially and began its activities with the Istanbul Declaration issued at the end of the summit of Heads of State and Government held in Istanbul on June 15, 1997.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the first D-8 Summit held in 1997. During her tenure, Dhaka hosted the second Summit in 1999.
This year, the theme of the 10th Summit is “Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing the Power of Youth and Technology” and the Summit will adopt two documents “D-8 Decennial Roadmap 2020-2030” and “Dhaka Declaration 2021.”
The foreign minister said before the Summit, the 19th D-8 Council of Ministers will be held virtually on April 7 where he will lead the Bangladesh side. The 43rd Session of the D-8 Commission will also be held on April 5-6 before the ministers meet.
On April 5, the D-8 Business Forum will be held. In the 10th Summit, Bangladesh is going to host the D-8 Youth Summit for the first time.
“We hope that by participating in this youth conference, young entrepreneurs from Bangladesh will be able to establish contacts and share experiences among young entrepreneurs from other D-8 member countries. That experience will help them take new initiatives in future,” the foreign minister said.