New D8 Chief Plans to Boost Members’ Trade Ties to $500bln

New Secretary-General of the Developing-8 Group Seyed Ali Mohammad Moussavi explained his plans and agenda for the further improvement of the D8, and said the trade relations among the member states are planned to increase to $500bln by 2018.

“The D8 is more integrated compared to the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)” and this potential can help further expand the trade relations among the member states, Moussavi told FNA on Sunday.

“At the beginning of the formation of the D8 in 1998 the volume of trade among the member countries stood at $15bln which has increased to $130bln at present and is planned to reach $500bln in 2018,” he added.

He referred to different fields for cooperation among the D8 members, including insurance, finance, banking, communications, science and technology, trade, tourism and health, and said the D8 has focused on 3 to 4 cooperation arenas and “I try to activate other fields of cooperation as well”.

Moussavi said that during his upcoming meeting with foreign ministers and other officials of the D8 member states he will inform them of his strategy for the next four years as the secretary-general of the D8.

Earlier this month, Moussavi started his mission at the center of the D8 secretariat in Istanbul after he took over the position in November for a period of four years.

The ministers of the D8 elected Iran’s representative as the new secretary general of the grouping in their meeting in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, in November, 2012.

The Developing-8 is 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 D8 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.

The D8 summit is held annually with the aim of exchanging views among the member states.