The 5th Session of the Supervisory Committee of the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) was held on 24th October, 2018 in Ankara, Turkey at the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Turkey. Delegates from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey attended the meeting.

In the opening speech delivered by Mr. Nasir Aminu, Director I of the D-8 secretariat, on behalf of the Secretary-General, he pointed out that the PTA is the most tangible outcome of the D-8 trade cooperation and called on Member States to resolve pending issues in order to expedite its implementation. He added that as the Secretary-General of the D-8, he has prioritized promoting intra-trade among Member States and has identified the PTA as the most important instrument in this regard.

At the Meeting, the Member States discussed issues related to the completion of internal procedures regarding implementation, offer lists, trade target, DSM document and the Istanbul Declaration to be adopted at the 3rd TMC scheduled to take place on 27th November, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey. Regarding Bangladesh’s proposal of 30 per cent Local Value Addition as an LDC, the country was requested to stay action on its request until the Agreement has been fully implemented.