The developing eight countries (D8) prepared here on Tuesday a strategic roadmap to enhance relations among the member states.
Iranian Industries and Mines Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian said that in the D8 ministerial meeting on industry appropriate ways to enhance industrial cooperation and increase trade were agreed upon.
Mehrabian, who chaired the meeting, added that the ministers and delegations emphasized the need to bolster economic relations.
Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey are the D8 member states.
Following the "Conference on Cooperation for Development", on October 22, 1996, and after a series of preparatory meetings, the establishment of D8 was announced officially by the Summit of Heads of State in Istanbul, on June 15, 1997.
The objectives of D8 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 Mehr News Agency quoted D8 Secretary General Dipo Alam as saying in Tehran on Sunday that in 2006 trade between the member states stood at $35 billion, but it is currently around $68 billion.
The secretary general explained that transactions between the 8 developing countries account for 3.3 percent of world trade, adding that the figure is projected to reach 10-15 percent in the next few years.