
The 11th D-8 Summit held in Egypt's New Administrative Capital on Thursday.
Egypt currently holds the chairmanship of the D-8 organization, whose state members are Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
The leaders of these major Muslim developing countries are attending the Summit in Cairo, include Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar, and Malaysia's Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir.
Also attending are Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Azerbaijan’s Prime Minister Ali Asadov, the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Ahmed Aboul Gheit.
Egypt became the D-8 president in May 2024, succeeding Bangladesh, and it will hold it until the end of 2025.
Indonesia will assume the presidency for 2026-2027 during the summit.
The D-8 represents a significan economic market, with member states having a combined population of over one billion and a gross domestic product of around $5 trillion.
Established in 1997, the organization aims to strengthen its members’ positions in the global economy through increased economic cooperation, trade diversification, enhanced international participation, and improved living standards.
D-8 Commissioners and Ministerial Meeting
On Tuesday, Egypt chaired the meetings of the 48th Session of the D-8 Commission in Cairo preparing for the summit.
The discussions focused on ways to enhance economic cooperation among the member states across various sectors.
Moreover, Egypt submitted on Wednesday the outcomes of the commissioners' discussions to the D-8 21st Council of Ministers meeting, chaired by Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty.
During his Wednesday speech, Abdelatty emphasized the importance of the summit amid the global economic challenges and regional crises, particularly the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza due to the Israeli war along with Israel's aggression on Syria and Lebanon.
He also announced Egypt's initiative to convene a special session on Palestine and Lebanon during the summit.
Furthermore, Abdelatty highlighted the need to enhance cooperation among the group's countries across all sectors, explore new economic and trade opportunities, empower the private sector, attract investments, and foster a supportive environment for collaboration, including youth empowerment.
Trade exchange
Trade between Egypt and the D-8 countries reached $5.9 billion during the first eight months of 2024, down from $6.6 billion in 2023, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Egypt's exports to these countries totalled $2.4 billion, while imports amounted to $3.5 billion.
Turkey is the top importer from Egypt, with exports worth $2 billion, followed by Nigeria, Indonesia, and other countries.
D-8 investments in Egypt increased by 6.2 percent, reaching $200.4 million in FY2022/2023, compared to $188.7 million in FY2021/2022.
Turkey led D-8 investments in Egypt with $167.2 million, followed by Malaysia at $24 million.
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