Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Abdurrahman Mohammad Fachir, along with his delegation paid a visit to the D-8 Secretariat on 17 May, 2018. Mr. Fachir congratulated D-8 Secretary-General, Ambassador Dato’ Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari on his assumption of office and appreciated his visit to Jakarta, Indonesia in April. The two interlocutors had fruitful discussion on the crucial role of the private sector and the D-8 chambers of commerce, involvement of D-8 universities and research centers in efforts at economic cooperation, importance of knowledge sharing through innovative projects and the future of the D-8.

The Vice Minister asserted that private sector is the prime mover in stirring growth, hence public sector should work towards facilitating business activities at all levels. He said that the recent Indonesia-Africa Forum had been a great success and should set precedent for future D-8 activities. He referred to the existing economic ties among Member States and emphasized the importance of know-how and experience sharing through infrastructure investments and capacity building.

In the same vein, the Secretary-General recognized the importance of private sector involvement and explained that the Secretariat is working towards increasing the scale and scope of private partnerships, a recent effort being his meeting with representatives from Sabiha Gokcen Airport and Turkish Technic. He explained his shared vision of making Sabiha Gokcen, the designated airport of D-8 with a multitude of D-8 specific facilities and activities. Among other things, he also explained his view on invigorating D-8 chambers of commerce as to further economic cooperation among Member States. He also explained the D8P Card project initiated by KOMEPS FinTech and a new plan of initiating an academic D-8 Journal which will be contributed by academicians as well as university students. The Secretary-General made special emphasis on the importance of making effective use of existing platforms and welcomed all initiative from the Republic of Indonesia, which is the biggest economy of D-8 with a GDP over USD 1 trillion.
The meeting was attended by Director I, Mr. Nasir Aminu and Program Officer, Ms. Damla Haciibrahimoglu from the D-8 Secretariat, Consul-General of Indonesia in Istanbul, Mr. Herry Sudradjat; Minister Counsellor, Mr. Toary Worang; Mr. Kamapradipta Isnomo, Mr. Ahmad Rizal Purnama, Mr. Rayyanul Muniah Sangadji and Mr. Aditya Aji Nugraha from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.