Ambassador Isiaka Imam, the D-8 Secretary-General, enjoined D-8 Ambassadors accredited to the Republic of Türkiye to support the D-8 Secretariat in its ongoing effort to enhance the visibility of the D-8 Organization in Türkiye. The D8 Scribe made the call during a luncheon hosted in his honour by the Indonesian Ambassador in Ankara, H.E. Dr. Lalu M. Iqbal on Monday, 31 January 2023. The event was attended by envoys from D8 countries in Ankara, including Ambassador Esen Altuğ, Director General for Multilateral Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Türkiye, who also doubles as D-8 Commissioner of Türkiye.

Ambassador Imam used the occasion to update the Member States’ Ambassadors on the current status and future direction of the D-8 Organization. He provided an update on the status of the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement, which he said was at an advanced stage and nearing full operationalization. He underlined that all that needs to be done is to convene the D-8 Ministers of Trade’s meeting, hopefully in March 2023, to endorse the critical protocols of the PTA, namely the Trade Facilitation Strategy and the Dispute Sentiment Mechanism, which have been successfully negotiated by the member states in June and July 2022, respectively. He is confident that once operational, the Agreement will boost the D-8’s intra-trade, substantially.

Ambassador Imam also presented activities with other international organizations to enhance the D-8 global visibility. He highlighted joint programs with the United Nations specialized agencies, organized in 2022 and presented the programs planned for 2023, including joint programs with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in July and October 2023, respectively.

On their part, the envoys discussed the way forward for the organization. They underscored the need for the D8 to also prioritize strengthening cooperation in the tourism sector, in anticipation of tourism rebound after the Covid-19 pandemic. The envoys also suggested the Organization maximize participation in expos, such as the Halal Expo, held annually in Istanbul to promote trade.

Drawing from the initiative of Ambassador Iqbal to bring together D-8 envoys in a cordial setting, Ambassador Imam underlined that envoys from the D-8 Member States in other countries could help increase the organization’s visibility, globally. For this, he will propose the creation of a D-8 Committee in Third countries to the D-8 Commission.

Thanking Ambassador Iqbal of Indonesia for his initiative, Ambassador Imam expressed his confidence that the gathering will inspire other D-8 Ambassadors in Ankara to organize similar events, regularly.

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation is an intergovernmental organization founded by Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye in 1997. As an economic organization, its main instrument is the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement, signed in 2006 and entered into force in 2011. After a lengthy negotiation and preparation, the D-8 is set to fully operationalize the Agreement in 2023. Once operationalized, the contracting members can initiate a trade with each other at lower tariffs on several commodities.