Pakistan is going to host the 8th Summit of organisation of developing countries, D-8 this month. According to sources, the summit of a forum of top developing eight Muslim countries namely Iran, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Bangladesh is scheduled to be held from November 19 to 22 in Islamabad.
The leaders of D-8 countries who would be assembled in the country would discuss important regional and international issues in the meeting/summit. Through letters, sent by Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) to various trade bodies and associations, the authority has informed that business delegations of leading exporters and importers of the member countries would also be attending the important event.
In a letter sent to Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Importers and Merchants Association on October 30, TDAP has informed that the authority has been assigned the mandate for hosting trade seminar and exhibition during the subject Summit. "You may be aware of that the D-8 PTA has already been signed. The list of concessions includes items of interests of the association," it said adding that a large number of exporters, importers and visitors are expected to attend the event therefore, TDAP being the focal point requires the list of exporters and importers of the association to be shared with the foreign countries for circulation among relevant businessmen.
A D-8 exhibition was also scheduled to be organised along with the summit from November 19-21 to display agro/halal products, engineering goods and textiles products of D-8 countries. All D-8 countries were to be provided space for country pavilions to display their products. However, according to sources, the planned exhibition programme was reportedly cancelled for unknown reasons.
It is worth mentioning here that D-8 came into being in 1997. D-8 aims at safeguarding the interests of the developing countries, promoting trade, and ensuring the inclusion of the developing countries in international decision-making. The members of D-8 signed trade accord in 2006, according to which tariff will be decreased on mutual trade in Asia. The population of D-8 countries accounts for 13 percent of the world population, and the volume of the member countries is more than 70 billion dollars.
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 co-operation include finance, banking, rural development, science and technology, humanitarian development, agriculture, energy, environment, and health.
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.
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