REPORT - Fifth Session of the Commission

1.         The Commission of D-8 held its Fifth Session in Istanbul on 23-24 April 1998. The following countries attended Ihe meeting: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.

2.         The meeting, which took place in a cordial atmosphere, was inaugurated hy a keynote speech by the Turkish Minister of State H.E. Mr. Ahat Andican.

3.         The closed session commenced with the opening statement by the Chainnan-in-Office the Commissioner of Turkey Ambassador Yaman Baskut.

4.         The Commission considered the draft agenda and adopted it as submitted in Document D’8/COM.V/Agenda Rev. I. Thereafter, the Commission accepted the Work Program. Upon the suggestion by the Chairman, an open-ended drafting committee was set up.

5.         The Executive Director’s statement contained a brief analysis of the world’s economic outlook in the light of the recent financial crisis in the Far-East with particular reference to the D-8 countries, followed by the main points of his report which had earlier been circulated, The text is attached herewith.

6.         The Commission considered the items included in its Agenda in the same order. A brief account of the discussions on them is submitted here below:

7.         Item 4/a Agriculture (Aquaculture): The Commissioner for Pakistan presented the report of the Workshop on Aquaculture. He noted that the recommendations made by the Workshop could be implemented with the minimum expenditure, which was in line with the general policy for D-8 cooperation The implementation of these recommendations had an excellent chance of achieving progress in this sector. Others who took the floor expressed their support for the recommendations as well as the views pronounced by the Delegate of Pakistan, It was also noted that the existing mechanisms of FAO and NACA might be utilized for promotion of D-8 cooperation, including inter alia, exchange or information in this field.

8.         Item 4/b Industry (Agricultural Aircraft); The TAl representative from Turkey briefed the Commission about the meeting on “Agricultural Aircraft” Many members stated that their governments were in favour of manufacturing of a “multipurpose civilian aircraft” which might be utilized not only in agriculture but also in accomplishing other tasks i.e., extinguishing forest fires and in rescue operations, etc. Sharing this understanding, Bangladesh joined others who had in the past shown their keen interest in this project. The Commission reached a consensus along these lines while recognizing that for the time being the name of the project could remain the same as was adopted by the Istanbul Summit.

9.         Item 4/c Finance-Banking-Privatization (Takaful): The Commissioner for Malaysia briefed the Commission on the outcome of the Seminar on Takaful which look place in Kuala Lumpur.

10.       Item 4/d Poverty Alleviation and Human Resources Development: The representative of Indonesia briefed the meeting on the prospective Workshop on Poverty Alleviation in Jakarta on 16-19 June 1998, The papers on the terms of reference and information on the Workshop were distributed in the meeting. The member countries were invited to send their experts to the Workshop.

11. Item 4/e Telecommunication and Information (Establishment of an Industrial and Technological Data Bank Network): The Commissioner for Iran informed of the preparations carried out by his government for the implementation of the project “Establishment of an Industrial and Technological Data Bank Network”. He emphasized the importance of receiving as soon as possible the replies from member countries to the questionnaire circulated to this effect. Malaysia and Indonesia indicated that they had recently given their replies. In this connection, it was also pointed out that, in view of the complexity of the issue, more information was required. The Commissioner for Turkey stated that his government has recently established the Turkish Academic Network and Information Center (TANIC) as a step for the implementation of the project considered under this Item. On the other hand, members expressed their preference for a meeting of the Working Group to take place in early June rather than end of May.

12. Item 4/f Trade (Establishment of an International Trading and Marketing Company): The Commissioner of Egypt presented the pre-feasibility study prepared by his authorities concerning the establishment of an “International Trading and Marketing Company” and invited the member countries to send their comment on it. He added that pending its establishment, practical steps might be taken in the field of trade promotion, trade support, etc. He further stated that in order to meet the data needs  in relation to trade, his government engaged the Kompass International to prepare a paper, which was circulated by the Kompass. The Commissioner of Egypt also informed the session that his government was ready to organize a workshop to discuss the simplification, streamlining and harmonization of banking procedures related to foreign trade.

The members agreed that it was necessary to increase the volume of intra-trade amongst the D-8 countries. They added that they would send their views on the pre-feasibility study after thoroughly studying it. The Turkish Commissioner drew the attention to the paper prepared by the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce on the Business Services Centers, taking into account the importance of these centers in providing support to the small and medium-size enterprises at all stages from production to export.

In the context of trade, attention was also drawn to the need to address the problems of shipping.

13.       Item 5/a Agriculture (Bio-technology): The role of bio-technology for increasing the productivity and output in agriculture was raised. The meeting, taking into account the difficulty involved in organizing a working group or expert meeting on bio-technology between now and the Summit of Dhaka, decided that Pakistan as the coordinating country should consult with the member countries by sending out a questionnaire to explore possibilities of cooperation in bio-technology and its modalities, and that the outcome should be presented in the Dhaka Summit.

14.       Item 5/b Industry (Cooperation in the field of contracting services, including establishment of joint consultancy firms): The Commissioner for Egypt drew the attention to the fact that work had already been done within QIC to develop cooperation in the Held of contracting services including establishment of joint consultancy firms, and added that we might first find out the outcome of this work,

15.       Item 5/c Finance-Banking Privatization: The Commissioner for Malaysia stated that he would consult with the member countries on the subjects mentioned under this agenda item to explore possibilities of cooperation thereupon.

16.       Item 5/d Poverty Alleviation and Human Resources Development (Training programs and technical cooperation): In line with the suggestion by Indonesia, the member countries were advised to organize training programs for technical cooperation.

17.       Item 5/e Trade (Practical steps related to trade & shipping questions & establishment of business services centers): This matter was taken up under item 4/f above.

18.       Item 6/a Rural Development and Micro-credit; The Commissioner for Bangladesh briefed (he session on the Working Group Meeting on Rural Development and Micro-credit. The Commissioner for Indonesia stated that out of seven projects, his government considered the second project “Training Program on Village Based Data Bank”(by Iran) and the sixth project “Promoting Rural Industrialization by Comprehensive Approach”(by Egypt) as subjects of priority. Others stated they were studying the report and would soon give their replies.

19.       Item 6/b Health: Commissioner for Turkey stated that his government recently proposed to take up the “AIDS Prevention Control Program” as a subject of priority amongst the recommendations made last year by the Working Group on Health and would convene a meeting in the Fall of 1998 on this subject.

20.       Item 6/c Science and Technology: The Commissioner for Iran indicated that they would soon convene the Working Group on Science and Technology simultaneously with Telecommunication and Information for the implementation of its recommendations.

21.       Item 6/d Energy: After a short exchange of views, the members agreed that the Chairman-in-Office might address a letter to the Commissioner of Nigeria to express on behalf of the Commission the importance all the members attached to the cooperation in the field of Energy and to convey their earnest hope to see the convening of the Working Group on Energy as soon as possible.

22.       Item 6/e Cultural Cooperation: The Commissioner for Pakistan referred to the recommendations of D-8 Symposium held in Islamabad last year and underlined the importance of their implementation for strengthening the ties among the member countries. Others agreed with this evaluation for the promotion of common cultural heritage

23.       Item 7 Public Relations: It was noted that the public in the member countries should regularly be informed about D-8 activities. They added that D-8’s image would be enhanced as the progress would be achieved in major areas of  cooperation. In this connection, they appreciated the attempt of the Executive Director to prepare in English a synopsis of a brochure for circulation in the member countries. Some added that the data given on individual countries could be updated on the basis of additional information which would be provided by them. They also stated that a reference to the areas of cooperation would be useful while cautioning that a lengthy brochure would not be effective to create the necessary impact. Most members indicated that they would have it published in their own language for a wider circulation.

24.       Item 8 Review of the arrangements for coordination: The meeting discussed the arrangements for coordination, including the question of creating a coordination center, in line with paragraph 4.5 of the Istanbul Declaration, wherein it was stated that” the Second D-8 Summit shall review the arrangements for coordination in order to adopt a decision on the modalities, including the establishment of a coordinating center in Istanbul”. A consensus was reached that the member countries should review this matter between now and the Dhaka Summit, It was further agreed thai the subject should be discussed at the next session of the Commission, prior to the Dhaka Summit, with a view to making a recommendation to the Heads of Slate and Government.

25.       In this context, the meeting expressed its sincere appreciation of the excellent role played by the Executive Director and his staff in coordinating D-8 activities, including facilitation of the meeting of the Commission.

26.       Item 9 The question of establishing liaison with the 01C and other international organization. The discussion on the question led to the conclusions that:

(1)        there was a linkage between this question and the issue of the review of the arrangements for coordination;

(2)        these two items should therefore be considered in the next session of the Commission which would take place in Dhaka;

(3)        the liaison should be cost effective, result-oriented and flexible.

27.       Item 10 and 7/b The dates of the Dhaka meetings, and the meeting of businessmen: Commissioners considered a suitable date for the forthcoming Dhaka Summit and decided to propose to their governments 28-29 November 1998 for the Summit Meeting, 26 November for the Council Meeting and 24-25 November for the Commission Meeting.

The Commission welcomed the Bangladesh proposal to convene, at the time of the Dhaka Summit, a forum involving the private and public sector representatives of the member countries. The meeting agreed that adequate preparations were required to make this forum successful- It was further agreed that individual member countries could circulate, through the Executive Director, specific suggestions for the forum. It was also agreed that the pre-feasibility study on the establishment of an International Trading and Marketing Company would also be circulated among the private and public sector represents lives for discussion at the forum.

28.       The Commission adopted 10 resolutions the text of which were attached as Annex V.

29.       The meeting expressed its sincere appreciation to the Government of Turkey for its generous hospitality and excellent arrangements.