Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, called on Mr. Lai Mohammed, Federal Minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria on 24 February 2016 at the latter’s office in Abuja.

The two interlocutors held a very fruitful and effective discussion in a cordial environment. Dr. Mousavi informed the Minister of the latest developments taking place within the Organization and conveyed that the Secretariat was working in full swing to implement the vision set by the Organization’s leaders. He updated the Minister with the D-8 priority areas of cooperation and informed that Tourism had been included as sixth priority area of D-8 cooperation. He stated that some very successful D-8 Member States were ready to share their experience and practices with other Members in the area of tourism. He sought his support in furthering common agenda to consolidate the partnership among the Member States. 

Minister Lai warmly welcomed the Secretary-General and appreciated his visit to the Ministry. He assured him of all cooperation. He informed him of the latest policy developments within Nigeria. He noted that tourism drove and promoted informal sector of economy aside formal trading and helped rural economy to grow up. He stressed the need for knowledge sharing, infrastructure management and eco-tourism and called upon the Secretary-General to enhance his efforts for more interaction with countries having success stories in tourism sector.