All is set to start a meeting of the D-8 Commission in Islamabad on Tuesday in preparation for the summit of the organization on Thursday.
The Commission has an executive authority‚ and is composed of commissioners appointed by each member state for promoting compliance of D8 directives in their respective country.
The D-8 consists of eight developing Muslim countries: Pakistan‚ Egypt‚ Iran‚ Turkey‚ Indonesia‚ Bangladesh‚ Malaysia and Nigeria.
Formal invitations to the countries that constitute the D-8 group — Bangladesh, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Nigeria – were delivered by Pakistan around two months ago.
In keeping with diplomatic norms, the foreign minister, as well as the State Minister for Foreign Affairs Malik Hammad Khan, were assigned to visit the capitals of D-8 member states as special envoys to extend the invitations.
A D-8 charter is to be adopted at the summit along with an ‘Islamabad Declaration’, a highly-placed official source said. Significantly, the D-8 charter will put in place an approved policy framework for the group 15 years after its establishment in 1997 in Turkey.
The two-day meeting of the Commission would be followed by meeting of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday‚ which would be chaired by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
Foreign ministers‚ senior government officials‚ governors of central banks‚ heads of trade promotion organizations‚ business leaders and exhibitors will participate in the main and sideline activities.
D-8 Trade Exhibition will begin on Monday and D-8 Business Forum will be held on Tuesday. Both events will be flagship events of the D-8 Summit to be attended by top corporate leaders from Pakistan and other D-8 countries.
These business activities will provide a solid platform at which Pakistan’s public and private sector will showcase wide possibilities in joint ventures and investment.
The Business Forum will focus on infrastructure development‚ value-addition in textile sector‚ opportunities of joint ventures in alternate energy‚ engineering‚ and agro-based industries.
The meeting of the governors of central banks of D-8 countries will also be held on the sidelines of the summit to make recommendations for cooperation on financial and monetary issues. The meeting will also discuss the impact of global economic crisis‚ cooperation through trade and capital inflows‚ and development finance.
Meanwhile‚ the Islamabad summit besides issuing a declaration will also adopt the organization’s charter and its global vision.
The Developing 8 (D-8 or Developing Eight) are a group of developing countries with large Muslim populations that have formed an economic development alliance. It consists of Bangladesh‚ Egypt‚ Indonesia‚ Iran‚ Malaysia‚ Nigeria‚ Pakistan‚ and Turkey.
The D-8 was founded by Necmettin Erbakan‚ former Turkish Prime Minister.The group was established after an announcement in Istanbul‚ Turkey on June 15‚ 1997. Membership is open to countries other than the current member-states‚ though no expansion is currently planned.
As stated by the D-8 Facts and Figures Publication: “The objectives of D-8 are to improve developing countries’ positions in the world economy‚ diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations‚ enhance participation in decision-making at the international level‚ and provide better standards of living.” The main areas of cooperation include finance‚ banking‚ rural development‚ science and technology‚ humanitarian development‚ agriculture‚ energy‚ environment‚ and health.
Representatives of each of the eight developing countries except Bangladesh signed a Preferential Trade Agreement on May 14‚ 2006 at the fifth D-8 Summit at Bali‚ Indonesia.
The agreement is designed to gradually reduce tariffs on specific goods between member-states‚ with a supervisory committee overseeing the process. The purpose of the agreement is to reduce barriers to free trade between member states‚ as well as promote inter-state cooperation.
The combined population of the eight countries is about 60% of all Muslims‚ or close to 13% of the world’s population.
In 2006‚ trade between the D-8 member states stood at $35 billion‚ and it was around $68 billion in 2010. Transactions between the 8 developing countries account for 3.3 percent of world trade. The figure is projected to reach 10-15 percent in the next few years.
The Summit‚ which is convened every two years‚ has the highest level of authority‚ and is composed of the leaders of each member state.
The Council is the principal decision making body and forum for consideration of issues relating to the D-8‚ and is composed of foreign affairs ministers sent from each member state.
The Commission has executive authority‚ and is composed of Commissioners appointed by each member state’s government. Commissioners are responsible for promoting compliance of D8 directives in their respective nation. Finally‚ an executive director is appointed by D-8 members to facilitate communication and to act in a supervisory capacity during each summit or lower-level assembly.
The Developing 8 does not have a large impact on the affairs of more influential international organizations such as the United Nations‚ NATO‚ or ASEAN. The purpose of the organization is to coordinate the efforts of each member state‚ and not necessarily to join together in order to increase each member’s collective influence in global politics. Since each member is still able to act unilaterally without severe repercussions from any other member‚ the potential bargaining power of the organization is somewhat limited.
BD, MALAYSIAN PMS NOT TO ATTEND SUMMIT: The prime ministers of Bangladesh and Malaysia have formally excused themselves from attending the upcoming D-8 conference in Pakistan scheduled for Nov 22.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid has formally informed the Pakistani government through the Bangladeshi foreign office that she would not be attending the summit, despite having initially agreed to do so.
The Malaysian prime minister had also excused himself from attending the conference. The reasons behind the Malaysian PM’s cancellation could not be confirmed.
