The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997.

Transcription

1 Brief History D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an arrangement for development cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states' position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living. D-8 is a global arrangement rather than a regional one, as the composition of its members reflects. Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multi-lateral commitments of the member countries, emanating from their membership to other international or regional organizations. Dr. Dipo Alam from Indonesia is currently the rotating Secretary General of the D-8 Organization with its Secretariat based in Istanbul-Turkey. Brief History of D-8 Establishment The idea of cooperation among major Muslim developing countries was mooted by Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, the then Prime Minister of Turkey, during a Seminar on "Cooperation in Development" which was held in Istanbul in October The group envisioned cooperation among countries stretching from South East Asia to Africa. Representatives from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan attended the Seminar. This conference was the first step towards the establishment of D-8 and it was only after a series of preparatory meetings that D-8 was set up officially and began its activities with the Istanbul Declaration issued at the end of the summit of Heads of State and Government held in Istanbul on June 15, 1997 Purposes & Objectives According to the first Summit Declaration (Istanbul, 1997), the main objective of D-8 is declared to be socio-economic development in accordance with following principles: Peace instead of conflict, dialogue instead of confrontation, cooperation instead of exploitation, justice instead of double-standard, equality instead of discrimination, democracy instead of oppression. Thus D-8 objectives 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 standard of living. By the same token, D-8 is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multilateral commitments of the member countries, emanating from their membership to other regional or international organizations.

2 The following three phrases are quotations from the D-8 fifth Summit Declaration (Bali, 2006) which illustrates some application of the principle objectives: "We commit ourselves to work together to solve the problem of economic disparities within our countries." "We reaffirm our commitment to enhance cooperation in the field of energy to develop alternative and renewable energy resources." "We emphasize the importance of D-8 in contributing to the economic development of its member countries and ensure that it promotes global trade." Principal Organs The principal organs of D-8 are: The Summit The Council The Commission The Summit, which is the supreme organ of D-8 is composed of the Heads of State/Government of member states. It is convened once every two years. The last Summit Meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia on May 13, The Council is composed of the Ministers in charge of Foreign Affairs of member states. It is the political decision-making organ of D-8, and acts as a forum for thorough and comprehensive consideration of the issues at hand. The last Council Meeting was held in New York during UNGA on September The Commission is the executive body of D-8. It is composed of senior officials appointed by their respective governments. Each Commissioner is responsible for the national coordination in his/her respective country. The last Commission Meeting was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on November D-8 Secretariat According to the decision made by Heads of State/Government during the Fifth Summit which was held in Bali, Indonesia on May 2006, the composition of the Secretariat is as follows; Secretary General (Indonesia) Director (Iran) Economist (Turkey)

3 The Secretariat premise is based in Istanbul, Turkey and is looked after by local employees. Principal Organs The principal organs of D-8 are: The Summit The Council The Commission The Summit, which is the supreme organ of D-8 is composed of the Heads of State/Government of member states. It is convened once every two years. The last Summit Meeting was held in Bali, Indonesia on May 13, The Council is composed of the Ministers in charge of Foreign Affairs of member states. It is the political decision-making organ of D-8, and acts as a forum for thorough and comprehensive consideration of the issues at hand. The last Council Meeting was held in New York during UNGA on September The Commission is the executive body of D-8. It is composed of senior officials appointed by their respective governments. Each Commissioner is responsible for the national coordination in his/her respective country. The last Commission Meeting was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on November D-8 Secretariat According to the decision made by Heads of State/Government during the Fifth Summit which was held in Bali, Indonesia on May 2006, the composition of the Secretariat is as follows; Secretary General (Indonesia) Director (Iran) Economist (Turkey) The Secretariat premise is based in Istanbul, Turkey and is looked after by local employees. Foreign Trade Current account balance is negative only for Turkey and Bangladesh during the last decade. Except for Iran and Turkey all member states have improved their

4 current account balance. Iran has practiced a slight decrease in its positive current account balance share in GDP in period compared to that of previous five years. Current account deficit of Turkey as percent of GDP has doubled in the last five years. Positive current account balance of Malaysia has also doubled in the same period. Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook 2006 (Some 2005 and 2006 data are IMF estimates) An indication of the dynamism of D-8 economies is their rapid integration with the world economy. In recent years, their exports and imports constitute 3.7 percent of the world total trade in average. In 2005, however, the exports share of D-8 member states in total world exports is 4.17 percent. According to the World Trade Report-2006 Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran and Nigeria are among the first 50 leading exporters and Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan are among the first 50 leading importers. Main trading partners of the D-8 countries are industrialized economies. Average intra D-8 trade share of member states in overall trade volume is 4.3 percent in average. Pakistan is the one trading most with other D-8 members. The 8.14 % of the overall trade volume of Pakistan is originated from D-8 countries.

5 Source: UN Statistics Division, 2006 Main export items of the D-8 countries vary a great deal based on resource endowment, climate, and soil conditions. The bulk of these exports are oil and gas, agricultural products and textiles. Among import items machinery and transport equipment, iron and steel products, raw materials for textiles, chemicals, and certain food items are more important.