Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assalam-o-Alaikum!
I would like to take this opportunity to offer my profound gratitude to Saadet Party and the Chairman, H.E Mr. Temel Karamollaoğlu, for organizing this event to commemorate the 24th Anniversary of establishment of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation. I am indeed very pleased and honored to be here today.
On this day, 24 years ago, the former Prime Minister of Turkey, Professor Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, turned his vision of creating an organization to harness the economic potential of 8 developing countries from the Muslim World, into a reality. Thus, the leaders of Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nigeria joined hands to realize Dr. Erbakan’s idea and the Developing Eight Organization for Economic Cooperation came into being.
The idea and vision of D-8 was indeed one of its kind and called for achieving prosperity and development in the Muslim world by eliminating existing trade barriers, bringing about technological advancements, achieving optimum human resource development and eradicating poverty.
At the first D-8 Summit held in 1997, the leaders of the Muslim World pledged to improve their position in the world economy by diversifying and creating new opportunities in trade relations, achieving enhanced participation in decision-making at the international level, and working towards providing a better standard of living for the millions inhabiting these states.
And the promises made back then hold true to this day.
During the recently concluded 10th D-8 Summit, the leaders once again pledged to have increased integration into the global economy as well as the world of education and culture. They also promised to dedicate their resources towards equipping their youth with the necessary skills set along with technological support, to be able to change their dynamics in an ever-evolving world.
At the inception of D-8 in 1997, the population of these eight countries was over 700 million and accounted for 13% of world population. They had an internal trade of less than US$ 17 billion. Situated across continents, separated by oceans, these countries shared collective ideas of development and wanted a greater share for their countries in the world’s economy.
Currently, D-8 countries in total account for a population of 1.1 billion, almost 4 trillion dollars of GDP, 1.5 trillion dollars of export and 110 billion dollars of intra-trade. It is indeed a prominent economic organization accounting for almost 5% of the global GDP. Almost 50% of OIC’s total trade comes from the D-8 member states.
The D-8 Member states are lucrative investment hubs for foreign investors as they host a share of 10% of the total foreign investments in the world. There is no denying that the macroeconomic indicators have clearly depicted the D-8 Organization as the next “Economic Powerhouse”.
Despite good indicators, progress falls short of promise and potential. Though in the last 20 years, D-8 intra-trade has increased more than seven-folds from USD 15 billion in 1997 to about USD 110 billion in 2018, it has the potential to increase manifold. Let us not forget that in the Kuala Lumpur Summit in 2008, the organization had set a D-8 intra-trade target of US$ 500 billion to be achieved by 2018.
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the economic growth of the Member States as well as the organization as a whole.
Industries, production and exports and imports of the D-8 member states have been seriously affected. Tourism arrivals and receipts have decreased. Unemployment is the logical consequence.
More than anything, the pandemic has made the Member States realize that they need to deepen their cooperation and work together to fight the pandemic.
As Member States, we must promote knowledge-based economies and focus on rapid digitalization. And we all witnessed during the COVID times how big a role technology plays in our daily lives when the world was locked in and made to interact through technology only.
Pakistan remains committed to the principles and purposes of this organization, and above all, to its underlying spirit. It is also actively contributing to make this organization more effective and responsive to the needs of the contemporary times.
We have ratified almost all D-8 instruments. In last six months, Pakistan has hosted four key sectoral meetings of D-8 - a clear demonstration of our resolve to do our part in furthering the work of the Organization.
Pakistan’s vision of regional cooperation and development is anchored in ‘responsibility within and beyond’. The Naya Pakistanpolicy of the present government focuses on economic security.
Pakistan hosted the inaugural meeting of the D-8 Network of Pioneers for Research and Innovation (NPRI) on 21 December 2020 and we believe that through this network, D-8 will be able to expand the level of innovation in the Member States and equip them with the necessary tools and techniques to achieve economic growth and sustainable development.
D-8 was based on an idea that was deeply rooted in the sense of a common history and a shared cultural heritage, spanning over centuries. This idea and the underlying spirit of this organization resonate far beyond the geographical expanse of this organization.
Indeed, what will inspire us to move forward on the path of cooperation and development is recalling the great dream and vision of Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, which is imbued in the very foundation of D-8.
I am confident that our collective wisdom and commitment will bring a new vigour to D-8.
Thank you.
