Muhyiddin to lead Malaysian delegation at D-8 virtual summit

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will lead Malaysia's delegation at the 10th Summit of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation (D-8) on Thursday (April 8).

According to a statement from the Foreign Ministry (Wisma Putra), the virtual summit is being hosted by Bangladesh, the current chair of the D-8 Summit.

The summit precedes the 19th Session of the D-8 Council of Ministers on Wednesday attended by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, and the 43rd Session of the D-8 Commission on Monday and Tuesday.

Wisma Putra said this year's theme, "Partnership for a Transformative World: Harnessing the Power of Youth and Technology", is timely given the need for D-8 to explore new opportunities through the empowerment of youth and digital technology in addressing the current global economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Leaders are expected to discuss and review the developments and achievements of the six areas of economic cooperation and formulate the economic cooperation plans for the next decade," the statement said.

The six areas of economic cooperation under the D-8 are trade, agriculture and food security, industrial cooperation and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), transportation, energy and minerals, and tourism.

Wisma Putra said leaders were also expected to adopt two outcome documents - the Dhaka Declaration and D-8 Decennial Roadmap for 2020-2030.

"The Dhaka Declaration reaffirms member states' commitments towards the D-8's objectives and cooperation framework in charting D-8's future strategic direction.

"The D-8 Decennial Roadmap for 2020-2030 will guide the work of the D-8 towards the D8 achievements for the next ten years," it said.

The ministry noted that this year's summit is expected to generate new initiatives and ideas to achieve the objectives and aspiration of the D-8.

Malaysia's participation at the summit will demonstrate its continued commitment and support to the initiatives under the D-8 cooperation framework.

The D-8 Secretariat, based in Istanbul, Turkey, is led by Datuk Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari, the first Malaysian to hold the Secretary-General position. He was appointed on Jan 1, 2018.

-- BERNAMA