Turkey hosted the Workshop on Exchange of Information on Rural Development Policies on 14-15 May 2015 in Ankara, Turkey. The workshop attended by participants from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey. The workshop was organized as part of the follow up programme under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the D-8 and the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI) in March 2015. 

The objective this two-day workshop was to strengthen cooperation in the field of rural development between D-8 Member States and the Agriculture and Rural Development Support Institution (ARDSI) of Republic of Turkey through transfer of knowledge and experience as well as technical assistance.

The course of workshop included European Union (EU) and Turkish rural development policies and implementations, organizational structure and implementation processes of ARDSI, project preparation, project evaluation, project cycle management and business plan evaluations, Spot Controls and Payment Authorization of Rural Development Projects as well as Payment Implementation and Accounting of Rural Development Projects. 

The D-8 Member States were encouraged to operate the MoU for further collaboration and partnership with ARDSI.  The D-8 Member States may consider cooperation in capacity building, technical assistance and project implementation. The cooperation may involve partnerships at all stages and ensure the participation of private and public stakeholders.

It is expected that the workshop would earmark a crucial point in leveraging the rural-urban nexus for development, promoting an empowerment agenda for rural livelihoods, investing in smallholder family agriculture for global food security and nutrition as well as promoting the resilience of poor rural households.