Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, visited Trabzon on 15 December 2014 and was warmly received by the authorities and institutions. He met the Governor, the Mayor, the Chairman of Commerce and Industry of Trabzon, among others, during the visit. 

Dr. Mousavi’s visit to Trabzon, one of the important provinces with enormous economic potentials, took place as part of the Organization’s external relations to establish and nurture effective partnership with local authorities and institutions in Turkey. Mr. Abdil Celil Öz, the Governor of Trabzon and Mr. Orhan Fevzi Gümrükçüo?lu, the Mayor of Trabzon, assured the Secretary-General of their whole-hearted support to the D-8 Activities in Turkey. Secretary-General Mousavi thanked the top representatives of the Turkish government and, through them, the Government of the Republic of Turkey for their continuous support toward the D-8 affairs. During his meeting with the Chairman of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Trabzon, the Secretary-General underscored the need for more engagement in order to reach the target of 500 billion USD trade volume within the D-8 by 2018. 

Apart from these visits, Dr. Mousavi addressed the audience in a seminar at the Karadeniz Technical University. The D-8 Secretary-General interacted and exchanged  with academicians and students. He highlighted that the D-8 with a combined population of over 1 (one) billion and a market size of more than $1 trillion, is set to emerge as one of the world’s most promising trade blocs and has achieved impressive progress in intra-trade of 150 Billion USD by 2012.  “We are looking forward to achieving the target of $500 billion for intra-trade by 2018, which has been set by our leaders”, added Dr. Mousavi. 

Photos of this visit can be viewed from the following link: