Prime Minister Imran Khan will lead Pakistan’s delegation to the 10th D-8 Summit being hosted by Bangladesh virtually on Thursday. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will attend the 19th Council of Ministers meeting that will precede the Summit.
The theme of the Summit is “Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing Power of Youth and Technology.”
The Summit will be attended by the heads of states and governments of eight D-8 member states, including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey and Pakistan. The summit is expected to adopt a declaration and the “Decennial Roadmap 2020-2030.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey will hand over the chairmanship of the D-8 Summit to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The D-8 was established in 1997 to promote economic and development cooperation among eight member states. The D-8 Secretariat is located in Istanbul. The D-8 objectives, inter alia, include improving developing countries’ position in the world economy, diversifying new opportunities in trade relations, and enhancing participation in decision-making at the international level. Priority areas of cooperation in the D-8 include: (i) Trade; (ii) Industry; (iii) Agriculture and Food Security; (iv) Energy; (v) Transportation; and (vi) Tourism.
Pakistan has actively contributed towards the promotion and realisation of objectives and goals of D-8. Pakistan hosted the eighth D-8 Summit in Islamabad in 2012 and remained the chair of the organisation from 2012 to 2017. The Islamabad summit was a resounding success with the adoption of two landmark documents – the D-8 Charter, and the D-8 Global Vision, along with the Islamabad Declaration.
Pakistan has hosted two meetings of the Council of Ministers, several commission meetings, and regular sectoral meetings. Pakistan has been actively taking part in various D-8 initiatives and projects and hosted four sectoral meetings in the last four months relating to research and innovation, technology transfer and exchange, agriculture, and visa facilitation.
