By ISIAKA IMAM

Twenty-six years ago, Presidents and Prime Ministers from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye gathered in Istanbul, Türkiye, and joined forces to boost their economic development. 

The Summit, hosted by Necmettin Erbakan, the then Prime Minister of Türkiye, on June 15, 1997, issued the ‘Istanbul Declaration’. The Declaration is a foundation for establishing the Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, or the D-8, with the Summit attendees becoming its founding members. 

In 2012, the D-8 gained the status as a full-fledged intergovernmental organisation with a legal personality by the signing of the Charter of the Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation. 

Twenty-six years old today, no doubt, is a relatively young age for an international organisation. During, this period, the D-8 has recorded some achievements, albeit modest, in its key priority sectors. Those sectors are trade, agriculture and food security, industry and small and medium enterprises, energy, transportation, tourism, health and social protection, human resources and education, and information and communication technology. 

To continue to flourish, an organisation must be agile. The D-8 is no exception. While its objectives remain the same, achieving them must be proactively adaptable to the global dynamics. 

Guided by the D-8 Decennial Roadmap for 2020-2030, the D-8 Organisation is now even more focused on conducting result-oriented tangible programmes in its priority areas. The roadmap is also aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.

Therefore, the confidence is high that the D-8 will remain relevant and true to its objectives. There are several factors to back that claim. 

First, the organisation’s statistics. The D-8 is home to approximately 1.16 billion people. That is more than seven per cent of the global population. The combined gross domestic product of all D-8 member states reached $4.3 trillion, or almost eight per cent of the global GDP in 2021, while the bloc’s external trade reached $2.3 trillion, amounting to 11% of the global trade in 2022. 

The founders established the D-8 as an economic organisation. Therefore, the D-8 is apolitical, in the sense that the organisation is not directly involved or operated in political discourses. Truly, political dynamic affects all countries, including the D-8 member states. However, being economic, the D-8 can continue operating in the economic realm. 

Second, most of the D-8 products are complementary in nature. Most D-8 member states produce commodities that are rarely competing, but complementary. This creates an advantage for the organisation to create a complementary economy. 

This idea of the D-8 as a complementary economic powerhouse also emerged during a meeting with a prominent global trade organisation. And creating complementary economy has been one of the focuses of the organisation.

To support such an endeavour, the D-8 has established relevant affiliate bodies, such as the D-8 Research Center for Agriculture and Food Security, the D-8 Technology Transfer and Exchange Network, the D-8 Network of Pioneer for Research and Innovation, and the D-8 Health and Social Protection Programme. 

Third, the geographical spread of the D-8 membership is unique. Our members are spread across three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. Unlike the Association of South East Asian Nations, ASEAN, the European Union, or the African Union, which are based on geographical region, the D-8 is not a regional organisation per-se. 

This situation can sometimes pose a challenge. Lacking a contiguous frontier adds a complexity in creating a seamless movement of people, goods, and services. This uniqueness, however, also provides vast economic opportunities. Each member state can serve as a gateway for market entrance in their respective region. 

Egypt and Nigeria can serve as a gateway to access the African Continent Free Trade Agreement, AfCTA. Similarly, Indonesia and Malaysia can link the D-8 with ASEAN, whereas Iran, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to South and Central Asia. Türkiye is widely known to be the global hub with its extensive air service industries. 

The group signed the Agreement on Simplification of Visa Procedures for the Businessmen of the D-8 Member States in 2001 to address this issue. To date, six member states have ratified the Agreement, while the other two are expected to ratify it soon.  

Fourth, the D-8 is quite advanced in trade facilitation by the signing of the ‘Preferential Trade Agreement among the D-8 Member States’, or the D-8 PTA, in 2006. The PTA entered into force in 2011. 

However, it must be admitted that the PTA’s organisation-wide implementation is slower than expected. The difference in ratification date and the start of the schedule of installment are often cited as its cause. 

It is heartening to note, however, that five member states have explicitly stated their readiness to implement it and trade under the D-8 PTA. For example, Türkiye has traded under the D-8 PTA since 2020, while Indonesia, Iran, and Malaysia have also stated they are ready to implement the D-8 PTA, having completed their respective internal procedures.

The PTA comprises more than 1.200 tariff lines with varying degrees of concession. Complemented with the Multilateral Agreement Among D-8 Member Countries on Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters, the D-8 PTA will address the stark contrast between its intra-trade with the organisation’s sheer population. 

Currently, the intra-trade among the D-8 members stands at $146 billion. This does not reflect the true potential of a market with 1.16 billion people. Therefore, the D-8 PTA is expected to boost the intra-trade to $ 500 billion by 2030.

To further boost its intra-trade, the D-8 is gearing up for establishing the D-8 Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises in Abuja, Nigeria, this year. The Centre will serve as a platform to boost development of SMEs, as major stakeholders for the economic activities in most, if not all, D-8 member states. 

Fifth, extensive external cooperation. Upon taking the saddle of the Organisation as the Secretary-General on 1 January 2022, I adopted a twin vision, i.e., to improve intra-trade, as well as the organisation’s visibility, both in member countries and globally.

To achieve it, we pursue stronger cooperation with other international and regional organisations. The D-8’s status as an observer of the United Nations General Assembly since 2014 plays a crucial role in our endeavour. 

Cooperation with external entities is crucial to address the challenge of limited resources that we face. Therefore, the D-8 is open to mutually beneficial collaboration. And we are actively approaching potential donors to contribute to the organisation’s programme execution. 

The D-8 has also been actively organising joint activities with several United Nations bodies and specialised agencies aimed at building the capacity of the D-8 member states in our priority areas. 

With a shared resolve among its member states, I am confident that the D-8 Organization can look far beyond the next 26 years. The trajectory of growth of its member states is positive. As a proof,  two of its members, i.e., Indonesia and Türkiye, have joined the G20. Nigeria and Iran are not far behind. Other members are also exhibiting a healthy appetite for growth. 

Imam is the Secretary-General of the D-8 Organisation, based in Istanbul, Türkiye