Having met in New York on 15-20 September 2000,
Adopted the following decisions,

PREPARATIONS OF THE CAIRO SUMMIT

1. Thanks the Egyptian Commissioner for his preliminary briefing concerning the arrangements of the Cairo Summit.
2. Recommends the dates for the following meetings:
The III. Summit (Cairo) 25 February 2001
The V. Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (Cairo) 24 February 2001
The X. Session of the Commission (Cairo) 22-23 February 2001
(Preparatory Meeting)
The IX Session of the Commission (Dhaka) Mid-January 2001
3. Requests the Executive Director to prepare in collaboration with the host country the draft text of the Cairo Declaration and to circulate it at an early date for the first reading at the IX. Session of the Commission in Dhaka.

INDUSTRY

4. Congratulates the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) for completing the manufacture of the prototype of the agricultural aircraft with the equipment mounted on it and for undertaking all the necessary tests successfully, and appreciates as well the substantial work so far conducted by the Study Group in connection with this project.
5. Reiterates its thanks to the Turkish Minister of Industry and Trade for his kind invitation to the D-8 Ministers of Industry/Science & Technology to mark the inaugural flight of the agricultural aircraft and to discuss as well other projects for industrial cooperation, an event which was initially scheduled for 12-13 September but later postponed due to the prior engagements of some Ministers.
6. Welcomes the setting up of a Management Committee to coordinate the industrial activities in the project such as design, development, certification, work-sharing, manufacturing, marketing, sales and after-sales support, its first meeting having been held in Ankara on 11-15 September 2000 following the conclusion of the non-disclosure agreement designed to protect intellectual properties concerning the exchange of information among the delegated companies, and instructs the Management Committee to resolve the remaining issues mentioned in the last report of the Study Group and to report to it.
7. Invites the member countries to direct their respective organisations to continue to closely collaborate with the Turkish Authorities (TAI) and to consider all the necessary steps, including speedily making their decisions known on the quantity they may wish to order this aircraft so that its commercial evaluation and production could be started at an early date, while at the same time working on the multi-purpose version.

TRADE

8. Reiterates its appreciation to the IDB for its offer to contribute to meeting the cost of the feasibility study of the IMTC project and thanks as well the Bank for agreeing to remove the two terms earlier attached to this offer.
9. Also reiterates its appreciation to those member states that have agreed to contribute to the cost of the feasibility study.
10. Welcomes the steps taken by Egypt in pursuance of Decision 23 (VII) that led to the reconsideration by the IDB of the terms attached to its offer and invites Egypt to complete as soon as possible all the necessary steps for the start of the work on the feasibility study including the announcement of the tender conditions for the offers by the nominated consultant firms, selection of the firm with the lowest bid etc., and authorizes her to sign the contract with this selected consultant firm.
11. Reaffirms its request from the member countries to encourage their private sector through their chambers of commerce to participate in the project.
12. Reiterates its call upon the governments to encourage their national chambers of commerce & industry and business associations to sign as soon as possible the Charter of the D-8 Forum for Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Business Associations for its early entry into force. Efforts should be made to introduce the IMTC project among the D-8 business community on the occasion of the forthcoming meeting of the OIC Chambers of Commerce & Business Associations which will take place in Doha 15-17 October 2000, as decided by the Commission at its VII. Session.
13. Appreciates the work by the I.R. of Iran for the new version of the Agreement on Easing Visa Procedures for Businessmen circulated at the Commission meeting and requests the member states to convey their views on this new text prior to the IX. Session of the Commission for facilitating a final decision.
14. Decides to consider in principle a single framework in the field of shipping to discuss ways and means of updating available information about national flag vessels, cargo movements and facilities, conditions of the main ports in the member countries as well as the development of partnerships among the entrepreneurs of member countries on joint venture basis for the expansion and sustainability of shipping trade within D-8.

15. Invites Bangladesh and Egypt as the sponsors of the earlier proposals on this
subject to jointly prepare a paper on the modalities of establishing such a framework including its structure and functioning, to be circulated to the member countries to seek their comments thereupon, and decides to consider the paper in the light of these comments.
16. Invites those member countries who have not yet done so to designate their focal points in the field of shipping.
17. Expresses its thanks to the Secretary General of the Islamic Shipowners’ Association for their valuable suggestions for cooperation with the D-8 members and requests the member countries to give their comments on them in order to take an appropriate action at its next session.

ITDB NETWORK

18. Thanks the Government of the I.R. of Iran for organising the Meeting of National Administrators on 24 April 2000 to finalise the preparations of the ITDB project.
19. Expresses as well its appreciation to the Iranian Government for accomplishing this project and launching the ITDB website on 24 May 2000.
20. Strongly urges the member countries to complete the work on their national home pages and to insert the latest data on industrial, technological, economic and commercial activities and to update them regularly; recommends as well to the member states to make efforts to publicise the website in their respective countries.
21. Invites those member countries that have not yet done so to designate their national focal points responsible for the implementation of this project.
22. Appreciates the contacts of the I.R. of Iran with the ITU for the preparation of a feasibility study on e-commerce and requests the member countries to respond as soon as possible to the questionnaire prepared for this purpose.

HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION

23. Welcomes the steps taken by the Indonesian Authorities to follow up Decision 60 (VII.). Invites the Member States, as requested by the coordinating country, to provide the Executive Director with an updated list of their national focal points as well as information and data on their capacities on HRD and poverty alleviation programs on the basis of the two sets of forms circulated earlier.
24. Thanks the Indonesian Authorities for the offer to organise a workshop on the empowerment of rural community through the use of appropriate technology for poverty alleviation in Jakarta on 14-18 May 2001, as outlined in the Terms of Reference circulated at the Commission Meeting.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT

25. Reiterates its earlier request from Bangladesh and Egypt to prepare the revised version of the project “Promoting Rural Industrialisation by Comprehensive Approach” for its approval at the next session of the Commission, thus enabling both member countries to jointly approach UNIDO to seek technical and financial assistance for its implementation.

PERMANENT UNIT (COORDINATING CENTER)

26. Reaffirms its earlier agreement to make a yearly financial contribution to the tune of USD 100 000, excluding Turkey towards the expenses of the coordinating unit with the proviso that the rest of the cost of the unit is expected to be met by Turkey. Financial contributions of the member countries other than Turkey will be shared equally.
27. Decides to review this transitional arrangement, including the scales of assessments, before the end of the Chairmanship of Egypt, taking into account the relevant decisions.

LIAISON WITH OIC/IDB

28. Agrees on the draft resolution proposed by Bangladesh on liaison to be established between D-8 and OIC/IDB for its submission to the meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers.
29. Requests the Executive Director to take the steps mentioned in Decision 79. (VII) following the adoption of the draft resolution referred to above by the OIC Foreign Ministers.