At the invitation of Mr. Süleyman ?ensoy, Chairman, Think Tank Forum of the Islamic Countries (TASAM) and Mr. Zahrani, Chairman, IPIS, Dr. Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, the D-8 Secretary-General, addressed 7th World Islamic Forum on Strategic Communication: Reference Values, Institutions, Persons as keynote speaker. The Forum was organized in Yazd on 24-25 May 2016.

Dr. Mousavi, in his speech at the inaugural session, highlighted the pervasive effects of innovation in information technologies across all domains of society in the last couple of decades. He mentioned that virtual communication had become an increasingly formidable strategic instrument for communication both in war and peace. Dr. Mousavi viewed that internet, which eased sharing of knowledge, must not reshape our universal values but rather our values and traits must drive the instrument of internet so that universal nature of human goodness prevailed. He opined that we must make the best use of the power of internet so that good ideas prevail over bad ones and strategies to build on unity and cohesion. Dr. Mousavi also shed light on the importance of families and persons as well as institutions as the building blocks of civilizations. 

The D-8 Secretary-General outlined current developments taking place within the D-8 Organization and also gave a background of the D-8 and highlighted the role and engagement of the Organization as a prominent inter-governmental entity for economic development as envisaged by its leaders. He mentioned that D-8 had marked significant progress since its establishment in the areas such as industry, trade, transportation, agriculture, technology etc. and thus had contributed to the economic uplift of the people of the region. He also said that with the upcoming 9th Summit in 2016 in Iran, the Organization was bound to seize this momentum to enter its second life-cycle phase, and strategically devise effective way to achieve its goals, in accordance with the vision of its great founders.

In addition to addressing the Forum as keynote speaker, Dr. Mousavi called on the Governor and the Mayor of Yazd. He also paid a visit to Yazd University and met the rector. They exchanged views, among others, on establishing network among certain universities in D-8 Member States. The D-8 Secretary-General also visited Ardakan University and addressed audience in a conference.