Top leaders to address D-8 summit Thursday

The top leaders of D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation are set to address the 10th summit of the alliance of developing countries.

The summit will be held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic with Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina presiding over the conference on Thursday.

The heads of state or government of the D-8 countries will speak from 2pm onwards.

The other countries in the bloc are Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.

Bangladesh will take over from Turkey as the head of the organisation for the next two years at the summit.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said the summit would firm up a policy position on cooperation between the member countries in areas such as trade, agriculture and food security, industrial cooperation, small and medium industries, transport, energy and mineral resources and tourism.

The 19th D-8 Council of Ministers was held on Wednesday ahead of the summit. Momen led the Bangladesh delegation in the session.

Earlier, the 43rd Session of the D-8 Commission was held from April 5-6 on a digital platform. The meeting was chaired by Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen.

At the meeting, the 'Dhaka Declaration 2021' and the roadmap of D-8's work plan for the next 10 years were adopted.

Meanwhile, FBCCI President Sheikh Fazle Fahim has taken over as the president of D-8 Chamber of Commerce at the Business Forum organised as part of the conference.