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Islamabad, 22 September 2021
Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi participated in an informal luncheon of D-8 Ministers hosted by Bangladesh, as Chair of the D-8, on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Speaking at the occasion, the Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to D-8 objectives and vision, and highlighted the country’s role in achieving the goals of the Organization. He noted that, among other meetings, Pakistan hosted the 8th D-8 Summit in 2012 which adopted two landmark documents including the D-8 Charter and its Global Vision. The 15th and 16th sessions of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) were also hosted by Pakistan in 2012 and 2013.
To ensure implementation of the decisions and initiatives of the D-8 Decennial Roadmap 2020-2030, the Foreign Minister stressed on the need of adopting an effective strategy and monitoring mechanisms.
The Foreign Minister also reiterated the five-pronged roadmap proposed by Prime Minister Imran Khan at the 10th D-8 Summit: (i) mobilizing financing and resources to recover robustly from the economic and health crises induced by the COVID pandemic; (ii) taking concrete actions to achieve the target of expanding intra D-8 trade from the current US$100 billion to US$ 500 billion by 2030; (iii) developing a “Youth Engagement Strategy” focused on promoting cultural, educational, scientific and entrepreneurial exchanges; (iv) intensifying cooperation for technological development by promoting knowledge-based economies, research and development, and rapid digitalization; and (v) making D-8 more relevant to the lives of D-8 citizens by promoting food security, enhancing cooperation in health, holding joint sports events and helping each other during natural disasters.
Foreign Ministers and Representatives of D-8 Member States including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey attended the luncheon meeting. D-8 Secretary General briefed the participants on the activities and new initiatives undertaken by D-8 Secretariat since the last CFM held in April 2021.
D-8 was established in Istanbul in 1997 to promote development cooperation among its member countries.