D-8 States Begin Talks to boost Trade Ties

Islamabad, Pakistan | March 28, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

The D-8 member countries have started another round of negotiations here Thursday to finalise Rules of Origin (RSO) for strengthening social and economic relations between the brotherly Muslim countries with particular focus on trade and commerce.

High Level Trade Officials (HLTO) from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey have been taking part in the 9th HLTO meeting to unanimously formulate and finalize RSOs for implementing Free Trade Agreements (FTA), Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA), customs agreements and other similar initiatives.

The 7th and 8th HLTO meetings were, held in Islamabad in December 2006 and May 2007, considered Revised Draft Rules of Origin tabled by Pakistan along with amendments proposed by other member countries. However, no consensus was developed for the formation of RSO during these meetings. The two-day HLTO meeting has been organised by ministry of foreign affairs, which would conclude on March 28 after finalising RSOs.

The prime objectives of the D-8 are to improve the developing countries’ position in the world economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international levels and provide better standards of living to the people. In his inaugural address, Secretary General D-8, Dipo Alam highlighted the importance of enhancing relations between the brotherly Muslim countries, arguing that policies for enhancing trade should be formulated keeping in view the developing nature of the member countries.

He said these countries have potential to enhance trade among themselves, as well as with other countries of the world, however, this needs to be exploited for the betterment of their peoples. He said that presently D-8 countries global trade totals about $720 billion but the intra-state trade is merely about 6 per cent of it, which he said needs to be enhanced.

He stressed the need for expediting the process of finalizing the RSOs to implement FTA, PTA, Customs Agreements and other similar agreements. Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Ministry of Trade and Commerce, Syed Asif Shah expressed the hope that as the D-8 process moves forward with the implementation PTA, the member countries would be able to come up with concerted stance on all international trade issues. He said that collective wisdom and experience of the trade officials would help in the formation of rules to facilitate trade.

It may be recalled that D-8 group was established in 1997 with an aim to seek broader and deeper cooperation amongst member states in political, scientific, technological and cultural fields with a view to enhancing and accelerating social-economic development of the member countries.

The identified areas of cooperation are as agriculture in Pakistan, industry in Turkey, trade in Egypt, telecommunication and information in Iran, poverty alleviation in Indonesia, finance in Malaysia, rural development in Bangladesh, energy in Nigeria, environment and health in Turkey and technical consulting association in Iran.

Source: AP Pakistan.

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