The Government of the Malaysia hosted the XXV Session of Developing Eight (D-8) Commission in Kuala Lumpur on 4-5 of July 2008. The meeting was attended by delegates from The People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Arab Republic of Egypt, The Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Republic of Turkey. The list of commissioners is attached as Annex I.

1.            Welcoming Remarks by the D-8 Commissioner of Malaysia

The meeting was chaired by H.E. Ambassador Ibrahim Abdullah, the D-8 Commissioner of Malaysia. In his opening statement, he invited all the D-8 Commissioners to recall the primary objective behind the establishment of the D-8 that was to strengthen the economic agenda of member countries which could be emulated by other OIC countries.  He also reiterated that all Member Countries should evaluate themselves how far they have achieved the objectives of the D-8. The text of his statement is at Annex II.

2.            Handing Over the Chairmanship from the Republic of Indonesia to Malaysia

The outgoing chairman of D-8, H.E. Ambassador Rezlan Ishar Jenie in his handing over statement, highlighted the achievement of D-8 during the Chairmanship of Indonesia on the successful hosting of 31 events as well as the successful completion of the D-8 Roadmap for Economic and Social Cooperation in its second decade of Cooperation (2008 - 2018) which will serve as a guideline for D-8’s future cooperation. However, he stated that the holding of some scheduled activities could not materialize due to lack of participants, conflicting schedule, and short notice problem. The text of his statement is at Annex III.

3.            Adoption of the Draft Agenda

The Commission adopted its agenda, which is at Annex IV.

4.         Statement by the D-8 Secretary General

H.E. Dr. Dipo Alam, the D-8 Secretary General reported the programmes and activities which have been undertaken by the Secretariat. The report made reference to the outcome of activities from the 5th Summit in 2006 in Bali, Indonesia, Ministerial Council Meeting in September 2006 in New York, the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Commission meetings, Working Groups and Capacity Building in various capitals; and the D-8 Federation of Chambers of Commerce meetings. The text of his statement is at Annex V.

5.         Consideration of the report of the meetings that have been convened since the 24^th Session of the D-8 Commission

The Commission considered and recommended the adoption of the reports of the following meetings/events to the Council of Ministers:

• Workshop on Financial Infrastructure Development Among D-8 Countries, Cairo, 26 Nov 2007

• Specialised Workshop on Takaful & Retakaful Cairo, 28 Nov 2007

• 9^th Session of High Level Trade Officials (HLTO), Islamabad, 27 -28 March 2008

• Expert Meeting on D-8 Roadmap and Statutory Documents for D-8 Permanent Secretariat, Pangkal Pinang, Indonesia, 31 March-1 April 2008

• 1^st Ministerial Meeting on Tourism, Tehran, Iran, 12-15 May, 2008.

• 4^th Working Group on Energy, Cairo, Egypt 1-2 June 2008.

• Roundtable Discussion on Care, Support and Treatment of HIV/AIDS, Bogor, 9 - 11 June 2008.

• 3^rd Meeting of D-8 Director-General of Civil Aviation , Bali, 17-18 June 2008

6.         Calendar of Events (cancelled, pending and future activities)

Pending:

• A Meeting to initiate cooperation between D-8 scientific institutions, research institutes and universities in March 2008 in Nigeria;

The Commissioner of Nigeria informed the Commission that the meeting will be convened in October 2008.  Actual dates would be circulated through the Secretariat.

• A Meeting on Migrant Workers and Remittances in April 2008 in Bangladesh;

The Commissioner of Bangladesh informed the Commission that the meeting will be convened in early November 2008 immediately after the Second Global Forum on Migration and Development.

• Fourth Meeting of D-8 Working Group on Industry in April 2008 in Indonesia;

The Commissioner of Indonesia informed the Commission that the meeting will be convened either in the fourth week of August or first week of September 2008.

• Meeting on Islamic Finance in 2008 in Malaysia;

The representative of Malaysia informed the Commission that the dates for the meeting will be circulated through the Secretariat.

• Experts Meeting on Automotive Industry in 2008 in Iran.

The Commissioner of Iran proposed that the meeting may be held at the level of Ministers in-charge of Industry.

7.            Calendar of Events for 2008 -2009

The Commissioner of Indonesia proposed the following activities:

(i)    D-8 Satellite Meeting on HIV/AIDS back to back with International Conference on AIDS in the Asia Pacific, in Indonesia in 2009.

(ii) First Working Group on Mining and Minerals in Indonesia in 2009.

The Commissioner of Iran proposed the following activities:

(i)   First Experts Group Meeting on Organic Agriculture in December 2008.

(ii) International Tourism investment Forum in October 2008.

(iii) International Conference of Tour Operators in 2008/09.

8.            Consideration of the D-8 Chamber of Commerce Activities

The Secretary General of the Federation of the D-8 Chambers of Commerce presented a report on the activities of the Federation and the outcome of Business Forum held at Kuala Lumpur on 3 July 2008.  He requested the support of the member countries for the activities of the Federation.

9.            Consideration and adoption of the Statutory Documents for The

Future Status of The Secretariat

• The Commission discussed at length the draft statutory documents for the D-8 Secretariat i.e. Financial Regulation, Staff Regulations and Rules of Procedures and recommended them to the Council of Ministers for adoption. It recommended that the documents be effective from 1 January 2009.

• With regard to the Headquarters Agreement, the Commission instructed the Secretary General to negotiate the Agreement with the host country (Turkey) and present the final draft to the Commission for its consideration and seeking authorization to sign it.

• The Commission agreed to recommend to the Council of Ministers the adoption of the following scale of the assessment of the Member States to the Secretariat budget:

Country Average

Bangladesh                                           4.50

Egypt                                                     10.00

Indonesia                                             11.63

Iran                                                        16.22

Malaysia                                               20.15

Nigeria                                                    6.50

Pakistan                                                 7.50

Turkey                                                   23.50

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Total                                                   100.00

• The Secretariat shall submit to the Commission, its draft budget for 2009 on the basis of the new scale of assessment.

• The Commission recommended that the Council may consider and take a decision on the appointment of the Secretary General.

10.         Consideration and adoption of the Rules of Origin (RoO)

The representative from Malaysia (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) briefed the meeting on the outcome of the Tenth D-8 High Level Trade Officials (HLTO) Meeting which took place on 3rd July 2008. The meeting adopted the report of the 10th HLTO Meeting by majority and noted the reservations expressed by Bangladesh and Egypt on the issue of the percentage of Value Addition.  The Operational Certification Procedures (OCP) and its appendix, incorporating views from all Member Countries, were adopted collectively. Full report of 10th Meeting of High Level Trade Officials of D-8 Countries is as in Annex VI.

11.         Consideration and adoption of the D-8 Roadmap for Economic Cooperation in the Second Decade of Cooperation (2008-2018)

The Commission recommended approval of the Roadmap by the Council of Ministers, which is at Annex VII.

12.         Consideration of the Draft Kuala Lumpur Declaration

The Commission recommended consideration of the draft Kuala Lumpur Declaration to the Council of Ministers for adoption by the Summit. The draft Declaration is at Annex VIII.

13.         Consideration of the Draft Agendas of the Ministerial and Summit Meetings

The Commission considered and submitted to the Council draft agenda for the Council and the Summit

14.         Date and Venue of the 26^th Session of the D-8 Commission and 12^th Session of Council of Ministers

The date and venue for the above mentioned meetings will be circulated soon.

15.         Consideration and Adoption of the Report of the 25^th Session of the D-8 Commission

The Commission adopted its report by consensus.

16.         Any Other Business

No matter was raised under this agenda item.

17.         Closing

The Chairman made a closing statement thanking all delegates for their active participation in the deliberations of the meeting leading to the successful conclusion of the meeting.

The delegations expressed their profound appreciation to the Government of Malaysia for hosting the meeting and generous hospitality extended to them.  They also thanked the Chairman for his able leadership and commended the skilful manner in which he conducted the meeting.