D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation

The idea of co-operation among major Muslim developing countries was mooted by Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, the then Prime Minister of Turkey, during a Seminar on "Cooperation in Development" which was held in Istanbul in October 1996. The group envisioned co-operation among countries stretching from South East Asia to Africa. Representatives from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan attended the Seminar. This conference was the first step towards the establishment of D-8 and it was only after a series of preparatory meetings that D-8 was set up officially and began its activities with the Istanbul Declaration issued at the end of the summit of Heads of State and Government held in Istanbul on 15 June 1997

As stated by the D-8 Facts and Figures Publication: "The objectives of D-8 are to improve developing countries' positions in the world economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at the international level, and provide better standards of living." The main areas of co-operation include finance, banking, rural development, science and technology, humanitarian development, agriculture, energy, environment, and health.[3]

In the first Summit Declaration (Istanbul, 1997), the main objective of D-8 is stated to be socio-economic development in accordance with following principles:

• Peace instead of conflict.
• Dialogue instead of confrontation.
• Cooperation instead of exploitation.
• Justice instead of double standard.
• Equality instead of discrimination.
• Democracy instead of oppression.

By the same token, D-8 is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multilateral commitments of the member countries, emanating from their membership of other regional or international organisations.

The fifth D-8 Summit Declaration (Bali, 2006) produced the following, as illustration of the application of the group's objectives:

• Commitment to work together to solve the problem of economic disparities within our countries.
• Reaffirm commitment to enhance co-operation in the field of energy to develop alternative and renewable energy resources.
• Emphasize the importance of D-8 in contributing to the economic development of its member countries and ensure that it promotes global trade.[5]

The Developing 8 is organised into three bodies:[6]

• The Summit
• The Council
• The Commission

The Summit, which is convened every two years, has the highest level of authority, and is composed of the leaders of each member state.

The Council is the principal decision-making body and forum for consideration of issues relating to the D-8, and is composed of the foreign affairs ministers of each member state.

The Commission has executive authority, and is composed of Commissioners appointed by each member state's government. Commissioners are responsible for promoting compliance with D8 directives in their respective nation. Finally, an executive director is appointed by D-8 members to facilitate communication and to act in a supervisory capacity during each summit or lower-level assembly.

• Newly industrialised country
• Next Eleven

• Official website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Organization for Economic Cooperation.

• D-8 Member States Statistics
• D-8 Publications
• Preferential Trade Agreement
• Agriculture and Food Security