The foreign ministers of the Developing 8 countries (D8) sanctioned a 10-year roadmap for economic collaborations among member states at the 11th Session ofD8 council of Ministers here on Sunday.
The two-phased roadmap envisaged increased intra-trade from the current 5 percent to between 15 and 20 percent by 2018, Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim said.
"Currently, intra-trade between member states is only 5 percent of the total D8 global trade. By the end of 2018, we want intra-trade to grow to 571.5 billion U.S. dollars or 15 to 20 percent of the total D8 trade.
"The roadmap will also provide the framework for enhancing cooperation, the guide and formula to implement D8 programs and projects, assist in mobilizing resources from governmental and non-governmental sectors.
"It will also broaden support for the D8 community, the private sector and the grouping's economic cooperation initiatives," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 11th Session of the D-8 Council of Ministers meeting.
The roadmap from 2008-2013, the main thrust, will focus on D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and Rules of Origin (RoO), customs and visa, industrial and business cooperation.
The second phase, between 2013-2018, is to achieve intra-trade target of 517.5 billion U.S. dollars or between 15 and 20 percent of D8 global trade.
The roadmap, among others, also spells out trade facilitation, customs cooperation, capacity-building, migrant workers, small-and medium-scale enterprises and information and communications technology.
The foreign ministers also endorsed a permanent secretariat forthe D8 following a consensus among member states for an annual contribution.
The secretariat will be headed by the D8 secretary-general.
D8 comprises eight developing Muslim nations -- Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, with an objective to improve the position of Muslim developing countries in the global world economy through the diversification of their economies by creating new opportunities via increased trade relations.
Source: Xinhua
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