Araqchi: Trade cooperation helps improve D-8 capacities

EghtesadOnline: Foreign Ministry Deputy for International and Legal Affairs Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that the D-8 states enjoy high capacities and extensive opportunities especially in fields of trade and economy.

News ID: ۷۶۹۷۱۴

25 September 2016

Addressing the second meeting of the D-8 foreign ministers held on the sidelines of the 71st United Nations General Assembly on September 23, Araqchi stressed that the D-8 countries can exchacnge their experiences by empowering their private sectors.

The Iranian diplomat is currently in New York as a member of a high ranking delegation accompanying Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, reports IRNA.

The agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is a proper global framework for the D-8 countries to set up their national and collective priorities to promote cooperation, Araqchi noted.

He further welcomed Turkey’s readiness to host the D-8 summit in 2017 and, highlighting the importance of the meeting, hoped for speedy announcement of the date of the event by Ankara officials.

The D-8 includes eight Muslim nations namely Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria. It was established in June 1997.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8 (D-8), is an organization for development cooperation the objectives of which are to improve member states’ position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level and improve standards of living.

It is a global arrangement rather than a regional one.

The combined population of the eight countries is about 60% of all Muslims, or close to 13% of the world's population with a total transaction rate which account for 3.3 percent of world trade.