On the occasion of the 45th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the D-8 Secretary-General, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari met Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) of Bangladesh on 3rd May 2018 at the latter’s office in Dhaka. The Secretary-General was warmly welcomed by the Minister.

The Minister congratulated the Secretary-General for his appointment and expressed confidence that his cognate experience and leadership qualities would help in achieving the D-8 agenda.
Ambassador Ku Jaafar congratulated the Minister for Bangladesh’s graduation from the status of least developed country (LDC) to that of a Developing Country. He informed Minister of the latest developments taking place within the Organization particularly the Istanbul Declaration 2017 and D-8 Istanbul Plan of Action adopted at the 9th D-8 Summit held in October 2017 in Istanbul. Both interlocutors discussed a wide range of issues including D-8 intra-trade, D-8 PTA, Custom and Visa Agreement and D-8 priority areas of cooperation. Secretary-General pointed out that private sector is the main engine of economic growth. Thus, he gave more importance to the private sectors to participate in D-8 fora. He also shared his experience with regard to Malaysian rural development and cooperatives.

The Minister pointed out that Bangladesh’s economy is developing and that textile and garments industries are playing pivotal role in economic growth. He also mentioned that the country’s leather industry also very promising.
Ambassador Ku Jaafar informed the Minister that he is going to request the Mayor of Konya to organize a workshop on urban cities and local governments for sharing of development experiences. The Minister highly encouraged the hosting of such workshops and promised to participate actively therein. The Secretary-General also informed the Minister that Bangladesh will be the host of next D-8 Summit. He also requested the Minister to come up with new projects and initiatives.