PM Erbakan opens D-8 summit
PM Erbakan opens D-8 summit
ISTANBUL, Turkey (Agencies): Turkey's Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan yesterday opened a ministerial meeting of eight developing countries here in preparation for a summit which he has masterminded.
The meeting is set to launch the Developing-Eight (D-8) economic cooperation group, bringing together Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey to develop trade, industry and financial projects.
"The D-8 will take on an important role in solving the problems of humanity in our globalizing world," Erbakan told the meeting of foreign ministers from the eight countries in an opening address.
Foreign ministers and senior officials from the eight Islamic nations would finalize a statement announcing the creation of an economic cooperation body similar to the G-7, the group of major economic powers.
The grouping would form "a major force with a total population of 800 million people and a trading volume of 400 billion dollars a day," Erbakan said.
He stressed that D-8 would be open to all other countries and "does not constitute an alternative to other regional organizations."
Erbakan, modern Turkey's first pro-Islamic premier, issued the idea of the grouping last October.
Outgoing Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who steps down in August, and Indonesian President Soeharto are among the heads of state attending tomorrow's summit.
Pakistan, Malaysia and Bangladesh will be represented by their prime ministers, while Nigeria and Egypt have sent ministers.
The statement, baptized the Istanbul Declaration, will define the reasons for the D-8 grouping, the basis of its cooperation and its objectives, Erbakan said.
The declaration sits on six guiding principles, the premier said, namely "peace, dialogue, cooperation, justice, equality, democracy."
But doubts about Erbakan's hold on power and foreign criticism of Turkey's military incursion into northern Iraq have overshadowed hopes of economic gains among member countries.
Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller is hoping to take over the prime minister's post by the end of the month to solve a crisis over Islamist activism which has distracted domestic attention away from Erbakan's brainchild, the D-8 Group.
Erbakan visited all D-8 countries except Bangladesh soon after coming to power last June. He fostered economic links with projects such as a $23 billion gas deal with Iran, drawing strong criticism from NATO-member Turkey's Western allies.
Among planned areas of cooperation, Egypt will oversee trade, Turkey will coordinate industry proposals, Pakistan will be responsible for agriculture, Nigeria will oversee energy plans and Indonesia will be responsible for human resources.
Iran will oversee telecommunication projects, Bangladesh will deal with rural development and Malaysia will focus on privatization, banking and Islamic insurance, or takaful.