1.    The Government of Indonesia hosted the XXI. Session of the D-8 Commission in New York on 19 September 2006. The delegations from the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey attended the meeting. The list of Participants is attached as Annex I.

2.    The meeting was chaired by H.E. Ambassador Mochamad S. Hidayat, the D-8 Commissioner of Indonesia, who is also acting as the Secretary General of D-8. In his opening statement, he underlined that the meeting was held with a view to discuss and evaluate the progress of D-8 cooperation. He further emphasized on the need to implement the programmes of activities agreed upon in the Bali Summit and to formulate new initiatives to strengthen D-8 cooperation.

3.    The provisional agenda of the meeting was adopted and attached as Annex II.

4.    In his capacity as the Acting Secretary General of D-8, H.E. Ambassador Mochamad S. Hidayat presented his report on the Development of D-8 cooperation since the convening of the Fifth Summit of D-8 in Bali on 13 May 2006. He reported that following the decision of the Summit, the status of the Secretariat has been upgraded and its structure has been strengthened. In this regard, he has taken the responsibility as Acting Secretary General of D-8 since 21 August 2006. He also highlighted the implementation programmes under the Calendar of Events agreed upon in the Bali Summit. Out of twelve programmes, only two of them have been implemented, namely the Working Group on Energy and the International Seminar on Olive and Saffron Cultivation. The Report of the Acting Secretary General is attached as Annex III.

5.    The meeting considered and adopted the report of the third D-8 Working Group Meeting on Energy held in Bogor, Indonesia on 6-7 July 2006, and the Report of the International Seminar on Olive and Saffron Cultivation held in Peshavar, Pakistan on 12-13 June 2006. In this regard, several delegations stressed the importance of the energy cooperation among D-8 countries, in order to take maximum benefit from the huge energy potential in the respective D-8 country.

6.    Member countries who have proposed to hold cooperation programmes were requested to provide more information on the dates and schedules of the proposed programmes under the calendar of event. Discussions took place on the importance to take priority in D-8 cooperation so as to make it more effective and efficient.

7.    The meeting discussed on how to further develop D-8 cooperation through concrete programme activities. Delegations shared the view on the importance of capacity building programmes to exchange experience, and information as     well as best practices among D-8 countries. In this regard, Indonesia will hold Capacity Building Program on Microfinancing for D-8 member countries, on 6-12 November 2006. The meeting encouraged other member countries to hold capacity building programmes in various fields of development, including in international trade.

8.    The delegation of Egypt and the Commissioner of Malaysia indicated their willingness to hold the fourth Working Group meeting on Energy in Egypt and the Working Group on Industry in Malaysia next year.

9.    The remaining programme of activities under the calendar of events for the 2006/2007 are of the following:

a.    Capacity Building on Micro Financing (Jakarta on 6-12 November 2006)

b.    The first of the series of HLTO Meetings to conclude the Draft Rules of Origin and other related instruments to implement the PTA (by Pakistan),

c.    The Commission Meeting some time after the Summit (by Indonesia),

d.    Working Group Meeting on Industry (by Malaysia in 2007),

e.    Workshop on Data Collection and Classification Systems and Management of SMEs (by Pakistan),

f.     Expert Meeting on environmental questions including Nature-Based Tourism (by the Islamic Republic Iran),

g.    Workshop on new specific projects in the field of industry such as Digital Microscope, DNA Typing, Finger Printing Technology, Compressed Natural Gas (by the Islamic Republic of Iran and other member countries),

h.    A meeting to initiate cooperation between D-8 scientific institutions, research institutes and universities (by Egypt and Nigeria),

i.      Workshop on Financial Infrastructure Development in Takaful (by Egypt),

j.      Workshop on Emerging Threats and Opportunities of Globalization for Rural Development: Defining the D-8 Future Rural Development Agenda (by Bangladesh)

10. The meeting agreed that the next meeting of the Commission would take place in Indonesia in early November 2006. Indonesia as the chair country would consult other D-8 member countries on the most feasible dates for such meeting.

11. The delegations expressed their appreciation to the Government of Indonesia for the warm hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for the meeting.