Honorable President of The Republic of Turkey, Chairman of the D-8

Honorable Heads of States and Governments 

Distinguished Ministers Head of delegations 

Ladies and Gentlemen 

This is an important day for the D-8 Member States, holding of their Ninth Summit after more than five years, since the 2012 Islamabad. We commend Pakistan for its leadership and successful Chairmanship. Throughout the D-8 history which we celebrate its twentieth anniversary this year, Egypt has remained committed to this Organization, faithful to its goals, believing in its potentials and actively participating in its activities. As the D-8 embarks on a new phase of project implementation, guided by the Istanbul Declaration and the Action Plan, structural and comprehensive work that lies ahead, both on the policy and the implementation levels.

 At a time when regionalism is gaining back momentum, compensating for the impediments faced by multilateralism, especially in economic Organizations, the D-8 Member States should be able to generate opportunities and partnerships and with the private sector. Intra -D8 trade is the first priority area needs to be boosted; the modest level of $100 billion as value of trade among Member States, is way below our potentials as a group. Egypt hopes that a satisfactory resolution of trade issues will be realized soon. On the other hand, there are experiences and success stories that could be shared among the D-8, whether in poverty eradication, infrastructure projects as a job generator, industrial innovation, scientific research and development. We look forward to fruitful discussions on the most appropriate approaches towards achieving that end. 

Your Excellencies

Let me express once again Egypt’s commitment to the economic cooperation and development goals of the D-8, and our readiness to engage in the tasks ahead in preparation for the Road Map and all other activities in the interest of the Organization, and wish the Turkish Chairmanship every success.

Thank you.