This year, the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation celebrates the 20th anniversary of its establishment. On the occasion, a traditional iftar program was hosted by the Saadet Party at the historic Ç?ra?an Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. The 20th anniversary iftar program was declared open by Mr. Temel Karamollaoglu, President of Saadet Partisi with an extraordinary speech. The D-8 Secretary-General, Dr. Seyed AliMohammad Mousavi also delivered an address at the occasion. The program was attended by D-8 Ambassadors, Consuls-General, prominent writers, academics and other dignitaries from the different walks of life.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Dr. Mousavi pointed out that in the last twenty years, the D-8 Organization has worked tirelessly towards improving the member states’ position in the global economy as well as diversifying and creating new opportunities in trade relations, enhancing participation in decision-making at international level and improving the quality of life of the peoples of Member States.

He added that over the last twenty years, D-8 has laid the foundations for cooperation in a wide spectrum of areas such as “The D-8 Charter”, “The D-8 Global Vision (2012-2030)” and “ The D-8 Roadmap as a Framework of the programs and projects for the next ten years”. In the field of trade, the Organization is working on increasing the volume of D-8 intra-trade through the implementation of “D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement” and “Multilateral Agreement on Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters.” There is also the “Multilateral Agreement on Civil Aviation Cooperation,” and “Simplification of Visa Procedures for D-8 countries’ businessmen.”
Furthermore, Dr. Mousavi said that as D-8 stands on the threshold of completing twenty years of its existence, it is an occasion not only for celebrating the solid achievements of the past years but also for looking forward to the years ahead with optimism as the Organization strives to consolidate the gains made so far and build its future through added impetus to economic cooperation and development-experience sharing with a view to fostering socially and environmentally responsible development of the Member States.

Finally, the Secretary-General reiterated his belief that the year 2017 will mark a new phase for the D-8 Organization in view of the fact that the 9th D-8 Summit, which is to be hosted by Turkey, is around the corner. He added that the summit will be the most significant event of the year and a turning point for our Organization as Turkey, the country of the founding father of the Organization, late Professor, Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, and the host of its Secretariat, would Chair the Organization for the second time after 18 years of its life-cycle.