Islamabad, 26 July 2022 (TDI): Pakistan will participate in the 20th Developing-Eight Council of Foreign Ministers’ D-8 CFMs meeting. This year Bangladesh will be hosting this hybrid format meeting.
Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will represent Pakistan in the meeting.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs @HinaRKhar will represent Pakistan at 20th D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers’ meetinghttps://t.co/lEbprqIR1z
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) July 27, 2022
The D-8 meeting has an Intra-D-8 trade target of five hundred billion dollars conceived under Decennial Road Map 2020-30. Pakistan Minister of State would also be encouraging D-8 countries to swiftly implement the existing Preferential Trade Agreement.
The D-8 Decennial Roadmap
D-8 Decennial Roadmap for 2020-2030 came as a blessing for the member countries. The Roadmap would help to expedite cooperation in all areas among D-8 member states.
The Roadmap looks into the issues of trade, agriculture and food security, industrial cooperation and SMEs, energy, transportation, tourism, blue economy, and exchanged private sector involvement.
The Developing-Eight Council of Foreign Ministers’ D-8 CFMs
The D-8 Group was established in Istanbul on 15 June 1997. Its founding members include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Türkiye.
Housed in Istanbul, the Organization is currently led by Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam of Nigeria.
D-8 CFMs represent a combined population of more than 1.1 billion people from eight developing economies of the Muslim world. It is a unique cross-regional inter-governmental Organization, stretching from Southeast Asia to Africa.
The organization also aims to enhance social, cultural, and scientific cooperation besides promoting trade, connectivity, and ease of business amongst its members. It significantly has an annual GDP of nearly US $4.92 trillion.
Considering the Organization’s strong potential, Azerbaijan has also applied for D-8 membership, which Pakistan welcomes.
Pakistan hosted the 8th D-8 Summit in November 2012. The country has also hosted two Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meetings, several D-8 Commissions meetings, and various sectoral interactions.
Moreover, Pakistan’s University of Agriculture, Faisalabad has been declared as the D-8 Research Center for Agriculture.
Pakistan plans to host the 4th Senior Officials and 3rd D-8 Ministerial meeting on Tourism this year. It has also designated Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, as the D-8 Airport.
