Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is currently addressing the 11th Summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) countries being held in Cairo.
Founded in 1997 in Istanbul, the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation among Egypt, Nigeria, Turkiye, Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, and Malaysia.
Its objective is to increase economic cooperation among member states to boost economic growth, sustain development and promote and improve standards of living by focusing on bringing improvement and enhancing cooperation in agriculture, trade, transportation, industry, energy, and tourism.
At the outset of his speech, he thanked Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for a “very warm and generous welcome” given to him and his delegation.
The premier termed the D-8 a “very important platform for cooperation” between its members, stressing that the summit was taking place at a “very critical juncture”.
“Ceasefire in Gaza is so important that without that, peace, prosperity and progress not only in the region but globally, will not be possible,” the prime minister asserted.
Addressing the leaders present at the summit, he said: “It is equally important, if not more, to discuss the situation in Gaza, the ceasefire in Lebanon and the potential threat of Israel’s carnage in this area and the world over.”
He appreciated Sisi for allocating a separate session for the “burning issue” of crises in the Middle East.
Noting that the theme of today’s summit pertained to investing in youth, PM Shehbaz emphasised it “served as a blueprint for collective prosperity in the 21st century”. He termed the youth and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the “key drivers of economic development in any society”.
