D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation

D-8 is an economic cooperation organization, established in 1997 by 8 Islamic countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.  D-8 is one of regional organization formed to strengthen the economic relations between developing Islamic countries and industrialized countries with the aim of boosting its influence in global markets. The idea of cooperation among Muslim developing countries was suggested by the former Prime Minister of Turkey, Necmettin Erbakan during a seminar on cooperation in development which was held in Istanbul in October 1996.

The objectives of D-8

The main objectives of D-8 include economic and social development, strengthening position of developing countries in global economies, creating versatilities and new opportunities in business relations, and also strengthening its presence in decision making at the international level. To achieve these goals, cooperation in the fields of industry, trade and removal of trade barriers has been recommended to utilize the capabilities of the eight-member countries in order to increase their role in global decision making, poverty alleviation, development of agriculture, communication, information and energy industries, technology and know-how transferring, banking and environment protection.

D-8 areas of cooperation

• Industry
• Agriculture
• Communication and information
• Trade
• Science and technology
• Developing Human Resource Management
• Health
• Rural development
• Banking
• Energy
• The responsibility of steering the two task forces, “communication & information” and also “science & technology” has been assigned to Iran.

D-8 Petrochemical industry cooperation:

A constructive cooperation has been made among the D-8 countries within the last decade to develop and promote trade and investment in petrochemical industry which resulted in setting up D-8 Petrochemical Association. The article of association was prepared and approved by all members. The main areas of cooperation defined by the Petrochemical Association are: establishing joint-venture petrochemical facilities, making unified D-8 petrochemical market, setting finance fund, utilizing the latest know-how and technologies, and implementing down-stream petrochemical plants.