D-8 leaders summit begins in Islamabad

Leaders from member countries discuss progress made by the bloc.

ISLAMABAD: The Developing Eight (D-8) leaders summit began in Islamabad on Thursday.

Leaders from member countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey will discuss the progress made by the bloc and future plans.

The D-8 group was established in 1997, upon an initiative of Turkey, to promote development cooperation among group members.

The Islamabad Summit is coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the founding of the D-8 bloc.

Since its inception, trade volume of the member countries has increased from $433 billion in 1997 to $1.73 trillion in 2011. Intra-D-8 trade, however, stood at a modest $130 billion in 2011, just 7.5% of the total trade of the D-8 bloc – implying that barriers still hinder trade amongst member countries.