Tehran, Iran, December 25
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (a.k.a. Developing-8) is going to hold a two-day expert meeting in late February 2016 to draft a statute for the formation of the group's chambers of commerce federation, Esfandiar Omidbakhsh, the country's plenipotentiary trade representative in the World Trade Organization (WTO), said, IRNA reported December 25.
Speaking during a meeting between the chambers of commerce of the D-8 group in Ankara, Turkey, Omidbakhsh said the statute will be signed by the heads of the D-8 chambers of commerce next year.
Also during the meeting, Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iranian secretary general of the D-8, commented on the economic significance of the D-8 group.
He said the group has access to a market with a population of one billion, cheap workforce, natural resources, and strategic position, all of which could be used to boost economy and trade.
He also called on the leaders of the D-8 member states to create enough convergence for the group to achieve its goals.
The D-8 was formed in 1997 by Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey as a forum for the member states to boost mutual trade.
That year, trade turnover among the members was $15 billion. Now the number stands at $122 billion. The group had at that time set an annual target turnover of $500 billion for 2018.
D-8's international trade is $1.7 trillion, equal to nine percent of the global trade value.