Turkey to host D-8 Summit

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Turkey is hosting the 9th Developing Eight (D-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation Summit in Istanbul on Friday, under the theme of "Expanding Opportunities through Cooperation."

The D-8 is a multilateral group of eight emerging economies in the Muslim world representing different regions. It includes Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. President of Nigeria Muhammadu Buhari has already confirmed his participation to the summit.

The Summit is preceded by a session of the D-8 Commission, and a session of the D-8 Council from October 17 to 19.

Growing clout

The D-8 member states comprise 15 percent of the world population or more than 1.1 billion people. Its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has registered an annual growth rate of nearly six percent, and has crossed 3.7 trillion US dollars.

The per capita GDP of the D-8 countries combined has spiraled exponentially and doubled from 2,207 US dollars in 1997 to 4,645 US dollars in 2016.

Former prime minister of Turkey, Necmettin Erbakan first suggested the concept of cooperation among leading Muslim developing countries.

Erbakan who was also the first Islamist prime minister of the country expanded on the idea of collaboration during a seminar on “Cooperation in Development” organized in Istanbul in 1996. He envisioned cooperation among countries stretching from Southeast Asia to Africa.

The D-8 is trying to garner global recognition. During the 69th United Nations General Assembly, all the member states adopted the text of the resolution on observer status for the D-8. Observer status enables D-8 to enhance its image on an international platform.

It signed a Joint Declaration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in 2015, in Vienna. The UNIDO is assisting the D-8 for capacity building as an organization.

The 39th Session of the D-8 Commission was held in Istanbul on October 17-18, 2017 with the chairmanship of Turkey. Commissioners and heads of delegation from all the D-8 member states took part in the two-day session. /D8 Facebook Photo

The ninth summit on Friday also marks 20 years since the establishment of the D-8.

Fissures within

The eighth D-8 summit held in Pakistan brought together only five government heads. Bangladesh, Egypt, and Malaysia had only sent their representatives.

Prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina refused to attend the meeting over differences with Islamabad. Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president of Egypt also maintained a distance from the summit.

Turkey's then prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led the 8th D-8 Summit.

Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi from Iran is currently the secretary-general of the D-8 Organization with its Secretariat based in Istanbul, Turkey.