By NNN-BSS,
Dhaka : Chief Adviser of Bangladesh caretaker governent Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed leaves here Monday for Kuala Lumpur to join the 6th one-day Developing-8 (D- 8) Summit to be held on July 8 in the Malaysian capital.
Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, Chief Adviser’s Principal Secretary Ali Imam Majumder and Press Secretary Syed Fahim Mumaim will accompany Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed to the summit of the head of the governments of the eight-nation grouping.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Meeting Challenges Through Innovative Cooperation”.
During his two-day stay in Malaysia, the Chief Adviser will hold a number of bilateral meetings with the heads of state and government of different D-8 countries including the President of Iran, Prime Ministers of Pakistan and Malaysia on the sidelines of the conference.
Apart from the official programmes, he will also hold a meeting on July 7 with the Bangladeshi community living in Malaysia.
Besides, Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed will attend a luncheon to be hosted by the Malaysian Prime Minister and hold retreat meetings with the heads of state and government attending the summit. The Chief Adviser will present Bangladesh’s statement in the Summit on July 8 while he is expected to return home on the same day.
This is for the first time, Malaysia is hosting the summit after formation of the group in 1997 with an objective to promote economic and trade cooperation among the member countries.
D-8 groups the eight largest Muslim countries of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan.
Indonesia hosted the last D-8 Summit in Bali on May 13, 2006. The second summit of the group was held in Bangladesh in 1999. The Summit is held every two years.
The then Turkish premier Dr. Neemettin Erbakan mooted the idea of cooperation among the developing Muslim countries while the group envisioned cooperation among countries stretching from South-East Asia to Africa.