Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani arrived here on Monday to attend the sixth D-8 Summit being held in the Malaysian capital, and is expected to endorse a 10-year roadmap on trade co-operation. Prime Minister Gilani, who is heading a delegation comprising PM's Advisor on economic affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, members of the coalition parties, opposition, minorities and women, was accorded warm welcome on arrival.
He was received at the airport by the Malaysian deputy foreign minister. On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister would also hold meetings with various heads of governments, including the prime minister of Malaysia and the Chief Executive of Bangladesh.
The D-8 comprises Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Turkey. It was set up in 1997 as an economic alliance with the objective of improving the position of Muslim developing countries in the global world economy through the diversification of their respective economies by creating new opportunities via increased trade relations.
The theme of the sixth summit is "Meeting Challenges through Innovative Co-operation." This is the first time that Malaysia is hosting the D-8 Summit. The last summit was hosted by Indonesia, the current chairman of D-8, in Bali, Indonesia. The D-8 presidency would be handed over to Malaysia by the group's current chairman Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.