Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim

Mr. Chairman,

Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Assalamu Alaikum.

I feel deeply honoured to attend the 6th D-8 Summit in this beautiful city of Kuala Lumpur. Since its inception in 1997, D-8 - our Group of Developing 8 countries - has crossed significant milestones in forging closer cooperation among our nations. This Summit offers us an opportunity to take stock of our achievements and assess the challenges that the Group faces today. This also provides us the momentum to formulate a plan of action for the second decade of D-8. I am truly grateful to Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi for hosting the Summit at this critical juncture. Allow me to take this opportunity to convey my delegation’s sincerest thanks to the Government of Malaysia for their warm welcome and gracious hospitality. Let me also convey our deepest appreciation to the Secretary General of D-8 and his dedicated staff. Despite limited resources and myriad challenges, he has led the process most effectively. I also thank him for his very comprehensive and useful report.

Mr. Chairman,

Malaysia is a beacon of hope for many developing countries. It is truly an Asian Miracle and we all stand to learn from its development experience. With consistently high savings rate, investment in human resource development and sound macro-economic policies, Malaysia transformed itself from resource dependence to a knowledge-based economy. Its egalitarian development strategies ensured that the benefits of economic growth reached all its citizens. The resilience of the Malaysian economy became evident during the financial crisis of 1997 when it chose to undertake strong counter-cyclical measures. Among the crisis-hit countries, it experienced the shallowest, shortest recession. It gives me great satisfaction that the second decade of D-8 begins its journey here in Malaysia. The venue of this Summit gives our Group the right perspective to prioritise our objectives. The Developing-8 should be able to replicate the success of Malaysia, individually and collectively. Let this Summit be the turning point in our endeavours.

Mr. Chairman,

We formed D-8 to promote economic and trade cooperation among ourselves. Our goal is to create new trade opportunities, promote linkages, enhance our leverage in multilateral decision-making process and, most importantly, attain better standards of living for our people. Against these targets, we must measure our success. We must, at the same time, identify the hurdles. Let us renew our resolve and devote additional resources to attain our cherished goals.

It is encouraging that D-8 has prioritised trade as a thrust sector for growth. The current volume of D-8 intra-trade is, however, still very small - roughly US dollar 49 billion. It is only about 9 percent of the world trade. The relentless efforts of our High Level Trade Officials have already brought some tangible results. I am confident that full implementation of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) provisions will significantly boost the volume of our trade. Our model of economic cooperation must, however, strike a balance between equity and efficiency. This will set us apart from other economic cooperation frameworks. We must ensure equitable distribution of benefits and opportunities among the member-countries, taking into account the differences in our national circumstances. The full “Recognition of needs of the Least Developed Contracting members” of D-8, as envisaged under Article-3(b) of the PTA, should be upheld in all contexts.

Tariff liberalization is only one aspect of the challenge. Our trade often faces significant difficulties due to lack of harmonization in measurement, standards and testing quality. We must make comparable and consistent efforts to reduce these non-tariff and para-tariff barriers to optimize our trade potentials. The Customs Agreement, signed by all D-8 countries, is a good step forward. We must take the necessary next step to operationalize this agreement without further delay.

Mr. Chairman,

One can hardly over-emphasize the importance of enhancing people-to-people contact. The D-8 Agreement on Simplification of Visa Procedures for businessmen and the MOU on Air Services Co-operation are two landmarks in connecting the minds and hearts of our peoples. But agreement must translate into action. And this must happen soon. I am glad to inform you that Bangladesh has just ratified the D-8 Visa Agreement, which will greatly facilitate business travels to Bangladesh from other D-8 countries. We are confident that our relations will enter a new era once these agreements become fully operational in all member-states.

In any country, business community is a prime agent of growth. Connecting our business leaders has been one of our key priorities. The establishment of D-8 Business Forum is surely one of our remarkable achievements. The Forum, I believe, will provide a useful platform for cross-fertilization of ideas, innovation and investment. It is my fervent hope that the Business forum would take up realistic projects and joint ventures to foster meaningful cooperation among the D-8 countries.

Mr. Chairman,

We have rightly identified tourism and energy as two prospective sectors for mutual cooperation. Our Tourism Ministers met in May 2008 and discussed a whole range of issues. I strongly believe that more such high level meetings will be useful to materialize the objectives of D-8. We should, however, take a structured and action-oriented approach to make all high-level consultations effective and to serve the common interests of the membership. In this context, I would like to underscore the need for strengthening the capacity of D-8 Secretariat. This is an imperative to achieve our common objectives.

Mr. Chairman,

Despite making significant strides, we are yet to realize the full potentials of D-8. The Group is yet to take full advantage of the complementarities of our economies. The synergies must be optimized. The D-8 roadmap gives us not only a sense of purpose, but also a sense of direction. But this must be complemented by a strategic and comprehensive plan of action. Let me now highlight a few key areas, which, I feel, should form the backbone of D-8 Cooperation in future :

First, the on-going energy crisis and the ever-rising price of bio-fuel make it an imperative that D-8 enhances its cooperation in the field of energy. We should collectively explore and implement capacity building programmes to ensure energy security of the member-states. Among the D-8 members, we should be able to establish innovative financing mechanisms to ensure a steady supply of reliable and affordable energy. D-8 should also strengthen its focus on renewable energy. Achieving energy security is a must if we are to realize our development potentials.

Secondly, against the backdrop of the current global food crisis, we should seriously consider creating a D-8 Food Fund to enhance our collective food security. The unprecedented price hike of food-grains is disproportionately affecting the poor in many of our countries. We need to develop mechanisms, not only to address short-term supply-side shocks but also strengthen cooperation to increase agricultural productivity. This is a must to prevent hunger and malnutrition - one of the key priorities of the Millennium Development Goals. As you are perhaps aware, Bangladesh - as the current Chair of the LDCs - urged the UN Secretary General to form a high-level Task Force to address the current food crisis. It is heartening that the Secretary General has accepted our proposal and taken prompt action.

Thirdly, while making steady progress in forging a Preferential Trade Agreement, we should, at the same time, aim at creating a D-8 Free Trade Area. It is encouraging that four members of D-8 have already concluded bilateral Free Trade Agreements. This trend should continue to include all others. While the Doha Development Round continues to elude us, we must re-double our efforts to make trade an engine of growth. We should continue to work together so that the developed countries remove their tariff and non-tariff barriers against our agricultural and textiles exports.

Fourthly, we should enhance our cooperation to reverse climate change and global warming, keeping in mind that many LDCs and low-lying coastal states will be the worst victims of a climatic catastrophe. D-8 members should cooperate in regional and multilateral forums to uphold the sacrosanct principle of “common but differentiated responsibility”. Cooperation amongst us is a must to ensure that the developed countries make unilateral, meaningful and unconditional commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, D-8 should actively pursue sustainable development with special emphasis on adaptation and technology transfers. The developed countries should provide us with adequate additional resources to address climate change adaptation needs in addition to regular Overseas Development Assistance. Bangladesh stands ready to offer its own experiences in adaptation techniques and practices.

Fifthly, we should recognize the full potential of international migration to foster development. Migration, through remittances and transfer of knowledge, has proved to be a strong antidote for poverty. Opportunities for legal migration, however, remain limited because of various restrictive policies and practices in many destination countries. We should take concrete measures, and go beyond the visa agreement, to facilitate the movement of natural persons among the D-8 member-countries. D-8 should also take a common position on liberalization of Mode IV services to ease the movement of labour to the developed economies. The Global Forum on Migration and Development offers a new platform to deliberate on these issues and we sould work together in the Forum to make migration a development priority.

Mr. Chairman,

Your are aware, my Government assumed office in January 2007 against the backdrop of a looming political crisis. Following our pledge and the roadmap, we are now at the final phase of political reforms to make our democracy meaningful and sustainable for our people. My government has taken significant measures to eradicate corruption, promote the rights of our people, establish rule of law, improve law and order situation and make the Government, especially the judiciary, more effective and accountable. We are working relentlessly and uncompromisingly to achieve these goals of good governance. To ensure that these reforms are irreversible, my government has already started dialogue with political parties to forge a national consensus for good governance. Bangladesh’s experience, we believe, can serve as an example for many developing countries who face the challenges of democracy and governance.

In conclusion, let me reiterate Bangladesh’s unflinching commitment to the principles and objectives of D-8 in promoting equitable development. We are confident that D-8 would reach a new trajectory of meaningful cooperation in the second decade of its existence.

Thank you all.