By IRNA,
Kuala Lumpur : Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda handed over the two-year chairmanship of the Eight Islamic Developing Countries (D-8) to his Malaysian counterpart Rais Yatim here on Sunday.
The ceremony for replacing D-8 presidency took place at the inaugural session of the 11th foreign ministers meeting which started its work earlier on Sunday in the Malaysian capital.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki is also attending the two-day meeting which would be followed by the sixth Summit of the D-8 heads of states slated for July 7-8.
The ministerial meeting was inaugurated by Yatim who stressed the need for further cooperation among the D-8 member states.
The D-8 compromises Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
It was set up in 1997 as an economic alliance with the objective of improving the position of Muslim developing countries in the global world economy through the diversification of their economies by creating new opportunities via increased trade relations.
The theme of the upcoming Summit is “Meeting Challenges Through Innovative Cooperation.”
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran is expected to leave Tehran for Kuala Lumpur Sunday evening to attend the D-8 Summit.
This is the first time that Malaysia is hosting the D-8 Summit.
The 2008 Summit is expected to adopt the decision on the setting up of the D-8 Permanent Secretariat and D-8 Roadmap for Economic Cooperation in the Second Decade of Cooperation (2008-2018).