D-8 Secretary General, Prof. Dr. Ir. Widi Agoes Pratikto has recently paid a working visit to Tehran on 14-16 September 2010 on the invitation from the Government of Iran as a speaker to Iran-African Forum. On his visit to Tehran, Dr. Pratikto also held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister, Industry and Mining Minister, and Director of Multilateral Economic Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry of Iran, who is at the same time the Alternate Commissioner of D-8. Other figures that he met was Secretary General of Federation of D-8 Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Research Manager from Iran Oil Seed Research and Development Company (IORD), Ambassador Bagher Asadi, Foreign Minister Advisor, Ambassador Soleiman Pour, and Director General of Africa at the Foreign Ministry. On his working visit, Dr. Pratikto was accompanied by the Economic Counsellor of the Indonesian Embassy, Tehran.

The Iran-African forum is a conference held to boost the cooperation between Iran and African countries.This forum, which was the first of its kind held by the initiative of Iran was attended by delegation of 54 countries and international organisation in Africa, including the President of Malawi (who is the Head of African Union), President of Senegal (OIC President), Head of Parliament of Ivory Coast, and a numbers of ministers (Foreign Minister, Industry Minister, Health and Education Ministers), as well as a number of other government officials and private sectors.

In his opening remarks, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Iran wish the share her experience to help building the future of African countries and to pave up the way for greater cooperation between Iran and African countries. At the moment, Iran prioritised the intensity of cooperation on economic and political areas with the African countries, and at the same time also serves as strategic partner for Africa. Meanwhile, the Iranian FM said on the closing remarks that the conference has succeeded in placing a platform for Iran and Africa to collectively discuss efforts to boost the intensity of their relation. He also said that the forum shall be an annual event.

African leaders who attended the forum paid a high appreciation to the organising committee, and wish that they could improve and boost relationship with Iran in the fields of culture, science and technology, as well as in the economy and investments sector.

D-8 Secretary General was a speaker in the 1st panel titled “Regional Cooperation” and he briefed about various cooperation which had been organised through the cooperation frameworks of D-8.

During the working visit, D-8 SG also met with the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mr. Manoucher Mottaki. The meeting was held in the sidelines of the forum on 14 September 2010. Both figures discussed on the development and cooperation programs in D-8, including about visa, PTA and Custom Agreement. Responding to the inquiry by D-8 Secretary General, Mr Mottaki said that Iran is ready to hold short course program for young D-8 diplomats. D-8 Secretary General expressed his gratitude on the readiness of Iran and hoped that Secretariat can soon receive a more detailed scheduled and information about the program.

Meanwhile, in the meeting with the Iranian Industry and Mining Minister of Iran, Mr. Ali Akbar Mehrabian, which was held on September 15, was discussed various issues on the D-8 cooperation. Mr Mehrabian said that D-8 is an important framework of cooperation. With the total population of almost 1 billion, the cooperation has a high potential to bring welfare to moslem society. At the moment external trade among D-8 countries recorded at more than 8 billion USD, but only 6% was done within the D-8 countries themselves. Therefore, he hope that D-8 can boost their cooperation so that the intra-trade volume can be increased to more than 30%.

Mr. Mehrabian also expressed his concern that the agreement which was reached on the D-8 Ministerial Meeting of Industry in Tehran on March 2010 has not been followed up seriously. In order to move forward the cooperation, Mr Mehrabian is planning to hold a number of working visit to D-8 countries as soon as possible. Mr Mehrabian also said that Iran wish to become the host country for the 2nd meeting.

With regard to Iran’s plan to hold D-8 SME meeting on November, D-8 Secretary General asked Iran side to coordinate the timing with the Secretariat in Istanbul, especially since in November 2010 there will be a number of other meetings such as WG on Shipping, DGCA, and Expert Meeting on Global Vision and Charter. D-8 SG also said that Turkey has also expressed her readiness to hold 2nd Ministrial Meeting of Industry.

D-8 SG also met with the Alternate Commissioner D-8, who is also the Director of Multilateral Economic Cooperation of Iran, Mr. Abdol Malek Givzad. Both figures agreed on the need to boost the implementation of various programs which has been previously agreed upon, such as fertilizer, marine and fishery, as a part of the program in Food Security. In addition to that, also discussed issues such as visa, PTA, and Custom.

Both officials also talked about the program schedules of D-8, especially those that shall be held in Tehran, such as Ministerial Meeting on Food and Agriculture, which will be held in March 2011, Workshop on SME’s (Novmber 2010), Young Diplomat Course,  as well as the 2nd Ministerial meeting on Industry.

Mr Givzad also said that his government has prepared the sum amount of 15 million euros for the Joint Investment Fund. For that reason, Iran will soon hold the expert meeting to formulate all the related issues with the Joint Investment Fund. The result is hopefully can be submitted to the Commissioner Meeting in Abuja, January 2011.

D-8 SG also said that a solidarity among D-8 countries is needed to response various natural disasters faced by members at the moment, such as in Pakistan. For that reason, he said that a common efforts is crucial, including the fund raising program and hoped that such program can be discussed in the next Commissioner meeting.

In the closing of the working visit, a working luncheon was held and attended by Director General of Multilateral Cooperation, Mr Mosavi, Director of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, Mr AM Givzad, D-8 SG of Federation of Chamber of Commerce, Mr Hanjani, a number of staffs at the Iranian Foreign Ministry, and Economic Counsellor and 3rd Secretary at the Indonesian Embassy, Tehran. On the occassion, Mr Hanjani expressed his hope that the private sector can take a more active part on the D-8 Economic COoperation. With regard to the Joint Investment Fund, Mr Hanjani hoped that the private sectors can also play a significant role in the usage of that fund.

In the meeting with research manager from Iran Oil Seed Research and Development Company (IORD),  Mr. Afshin Esmaailifar, Mr Esmaalifar said that he hope to hold the D-8 meeting on fertilizer sector with the cooperation of private sectors in Iran. Responding to that, D-8 SG said that he will consult with Egyptian side, considering that they had previously expressed their readiness to hold that meeting. He also advised that Mr Esmaail coordinate with Ministry of Agriculture of Iran about that plan.