Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs on Monday urged the member countries of the Developing-8 Organization to evolve a comprehensive mechanism to cooperation for resolving the energy crisis in the region.
Addressing the 33rd session of the commissioners of Developing-8 Organization here, Sartaj Aziz said special efforts should be made to resolve the energy crisis as it was becoming a daunting challenge. He said Pakistan was in the process of organizing the first meeting of D-8 Energy Forum in Islamabad.
He also urged the organization to initiate the phase of substantive cooperation by operationalising the agreements related to removing barriers in trade and business, particularly the Preferential Trade Agreement.
Highlighting economic revival as a high priority of the government, the Adviser said that this was the reason that the decision to join the D-8 was taken by Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif over 15 years ago, who attended the first historical summit of the organization in Istanbul in June 1997.
Sartaj Aziz suggested that the member countries could take initiatives in cooperation in capacity building, transfer of technology, transfer of capital & labour, energy and food security, Islamic banking, and Halal sector development.
Later in a meeting with D-8 Secretary-General Dr Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi, Sartaj Aziz proposed ways to fast track the implementation of trade and visa agreements.
He hoped that the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement would be implemented soon.
The D-8 Secretary-General thanked the Adviser for organizing the commission meeting and appreciated Pakistan’s active role in the D-8 activities.
He assured support of his organization in expediting the implementation of D-8 agreements, which envisage current intra-D-8 trade of US$ 150 billion to increase to US$ 500 billion by 2018.
The D-8 commissioners from member countries (Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey) and D-8 Secretary-General Dr Mousavi are attending the two-day meeting.