As a preparatory meeting of the upcoming 10th D-8 Summit, D-8 Foreign Ministers met today via video conference at the 19th Session of the D-8 Council of Ministers. The Turkish Foreign Minister H.E. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu handed over the Chairmanship of D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers to the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, H.E. Dr. A. K. Abdul Momen. Foreign Minister chaired the meeting in presence of the Foreign Ministers of the D-8 Member States.

At the onset of the meeting, Foreign Minister congratulated Turkish Foreign Minister for successfully completing his tenure as the Chair of the D-8 Council of Ministers. He also thanked D-8 Secretary General for his proactive initiatives to foster the values of the D-8.

He informed the D-8 Foreign Ministers that Bangladesh successfully completed her Chairmanship for the period of 1999-2001, and Bangladesh will assume the Chairmanship of D-8 for the Second time after two decades. Dr. Momen further informed that at this moment, Bangladesh is celebrating Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation and observing the Golden Jubilee of her independence. At the same time, Bangladesh has fulfilled the UN criteria for graduating from LDC group of countries. Bangladesh is honoured to be the Chair of D-8 Council of Ministers at this historic moment, he added.

Dr. Momen stated that 19 percent of the total population of the D-8 countries is youth. Realizing the necessity of exploring the untapped potential of the youth population at the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Bangladesh proposed the theme of the 10th D-8 Summit as, “Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing the Power of Youth and Technology”, and look forward to work together with the D-8 Member States to support the youth of D-8 to tackle the challenges of the 4IR. As digital age demands manpower equipped with technology, and innovation driven skills, D-8 may take leadership to create job opportunity for the youth of D-8 as well as equip them with necessary skills so that they can actively contribute in the age of 4IR.

Referring to the initiatives taken by the Government of Bangladesh in order to prevent further spread of COVID-19, as well as to address the economic challenges posed by the pandemic, Dr. Momen proposed to create a D-8 digital marketplace, and formulate a suitable-for-all resilient post-pandemic cooperation model.

In order to recover from the detrimental impacts of COVID-19 on the world economy, he further urged D-8 Member States to collaborate to explore the way out for economic recovery. Bangladesh believes in a free and equitable access to markets for not only for products but also for services, Foreign Minister added.

Foreign Ministers of other D-8 Member States also delivered their statements. The Secretary-General of D-8 thanked the Chair for hosting the meeting, and presented a report on the activities of the Organization since 2019. The Council reviewed and discussed the initiatives taken by the Secretariat.

The Foreign Ministers adopted ”Dhaka Declaration 2021”, and “D-8 Decennial Roadmap for 2020-2030” and recommended the same to the D-8 Leaders at the upcoming 10th D-8 Summit for final approval.

The Chair announced that Bangladesh will host the next D-8 Council of Ministers meeting in Dhaka in early 2022.

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh (https://mofa.gov.bd/)