Directorate General of Civil Aviation Pakistan hosted 11th D-8 Directors-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan from 27-28 Nov 2017. Air Marshal (Rtd.) Asim Suleiman, Director-General of Civil Aviation of Pakistan chaired the meeting. Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, addressed the opening of the meeting and wished for tangible meeting outcome. 

Dr. Mousavi expressed immense gratitude and sincere appreciation to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in general and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in particular for hosting this event and providing such excellent meeting facilities, as well as the warm welcome and generous hospitality. He also acknowledged and profoundly appreciated the strenuous efforts of His Excellency, Mr. Air Marshal (Rtd.) Asim Suleiman, the Director-General of the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan as well as his unflinching support to the cause of the D-8 Organization of fostering our common agenda of cooperative partnership. He mentioned that Member States benefit from sharing their experiences and capacities with one another. He also mentioned that continuous improvement in aviation is a fundamental criterion to ensuring safe and secure air transport and that aviation adds to the mobility of not only the people but also the economy. 

Dr. Mousavi said that Member States should work assiduously towards fostering the development of economically viable civil aviation system (airlines, airports, air navigation services providers, etc.) and enhancing economic efficiency and transparency while facilitating access to funding for aviation infrastructure and other investment needs as well as technology transfer and capacity building to support the growth of air transport for the benefit of all stakeholders. Dr. Mousavi also advised that articulation of concrete cooperation and collaboration programs– possible action plan under Task Forces cooperation and increase in exchange of views and information on the current development and possible projects among D-8 Directors-General Civil Aviation should be discussed by the group. He underscored that a comprehensive action plan would not only put the works in a structured manner, but would also help make best use of available resources. 

The two-day meeting of Civil Aviation Heads included sharing of experiences and best practices, presentation of each other’s aviation capabilities and challenges, review of progress of task forces on Air Navigation and Air Traffic Management, Safety and Security, Training and Capacity Building and Commercial Issues, etc. The Secretary-General also appreciated the DGCA of Pakistan for their initiative to include industry participants for private sector engagement and looked forward to a more intensive cooperation between private actors in aviation industry of the D-8.