REPORT OF THE VIII SESSION OF D-8 COUNCIL OF FOREIGN MINISTERS(*)
(New York, 27 September 2004)

1. The VIII. Session of the D·8 Council of Foreign Ministers was held in New York on 27 September 2004. The meeting was chaired by H.E. Mr Gholam Ali Khoshro, Deputy Foreign Minister of the I.R. of Iran for Intemational Affairs. The Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia Pakistan and Turkey were present at the meering while the remaining members represented by their Commissioners.

2. Following the opening statement by the Chainnan and he presentation by the Executive Director on D-8 activities since the Tehran Summit, the draft agenda was adopted. The Foreign Ministers and Commissioners made general statements, offering their views on various agenda items. They are summarized herebelow in the order of the agenda.

3. The present trend of globalization and the uncertainities and inequities of the multilateral trading system have laid a renewed emphasis on the need for regional economic interation

Trade liberalization should be undertaken through an equitable and ruled-based trading system under the WTO. The recent adoption of the so-called “July package , is a positive development which as put discussion the Doha Round back on track. However to achieve our goals in this endevour, we as devetoping countries maintain our cohesion and unity and must be vigilant against attempts to include and reintroduce extraneous issues.

4. D-8 is a vehicle for fostering and accelerating trade and economic cooperation amongst the ember countries. Although we have achieved quite progress in this respect, we have not yet been able to exploit the existing potential. Much still remains to be done. Having reviewed our activities at the Tehran Summit, we have adopted a number of measures to revitalize D-8 cooperation.

(*) Prepared under the personal responsibility of the Executive Director