The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation held the 5th and final round of Expert Meeting on the draft Trade Facilitation Strategy on 16 November, 2021 which successfully finalized the draft fully and made it ready for adoption. The meeting was hosted virtually by the D-8 Secretariat, Istanbul. Senior Officials, Trade and Customs experts from the D-8 Member States participated in the meeting. Previously, the Secretariat convened four rounds of virtual meeting on this draft during August-November 2021.

The meeting started with the welcoming statement by the Chair, Ms. Rasha Hamdy, Director of Economy and External Relations of the Secretariat. The esteemed Delegates resumed the discussion on the draft strategy and finalized the remaining text based on consensus. The meeting decided that this draft would be adopted in the 3rd Trade Ministerial Meeting. This strategy document is a significant addition to the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) which would help reduce the administrative & procedural barriers to trade among the member states and boost up their intra-trade under the D-8 PTA.

In concluding remarks, Ms. Rasha Hamdy thanked again Ministry of Trade, Republic of Turkey for their tremendous effort in drafting this vital document and conveyed profound gratitude to the esteemed Delegations from the Member States for their active participation and valuable inputs. The meeting also appreciated Ms. Hamdy for her competent Chairing and thanked the Secretariat for its valuable work.