President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has asked D-8 (Developing 8) secretary general Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi to help facilitate improvement of cooperation among its member states, particularly in the sectors of economy and trade.

Yudhoyono made the statement when he received Mousavi at his office in Jakarta, on Tuesday. The latter was paying an official visit to Indonesia as part of his first official trip since he assumed office earlier this year.

'€œD-8 is a very important organization. I believe there remains room and potential for stronger cooperation. I hope, in the years to come, we can enhance good ties and cooperation in many areas particularly economy and trade,'€ Yudhoyono said upon opening the meeting, which was then held behind closed doors.

Accompanying the President were State Secretary Sudi Silalahi and Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam.

Iranian Mousavi is the D-8 secretary general for the 2013-2017 period. His appointment was made during the group'€™s summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, in November, last year, replacing Indonesia'€™s Widi A. Pratikto.

In his press statement after the meeting, Mousavi praised Indonesia'€™s active role in the D-8.
'€œIndonesia is D-8'€™s most active and most important member. We really count on their continuous support,'€ he said.

According to him, the scope of cooperation among D-8 members has also included areas of civil aviation, industry, customs, visa simplification, as well as preferential trade agreement (PTA).

Dipo, who served as D-8 secretary general from 2007 to 2009, said that internal trade among D-8 members currently stood at US$150 billion.

'€œIndonesia hopes that the volume can jump to $200 billion, even $300 by 2018,'€ he said.

Founded in 1997, the D-8 is a group of developing countries with large Muslim populations, which have formed an economic development alliance.

The group consists of Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey with total population of about 800 million people.

Its five priority areas are trade, agriculture and food security, industrial cooperation and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), transportation, as well as energy and mineral.

Last year'€™s summit in Pakistan has been recognized as one of the group'€™s historical events as the long-awaited D-8 charter was finally adopted in the meeting.

Pakistan, the current chair, will hand over chairmanship to Turkey which will host the summit in 2014.

D-8 is scheduled to hold its 7th Working Group on Civil Aviation, in June in Dhaka, Bangladesh; 3rd Supervisory Committee PTA and 1st Trade Ministers Council Meeting on the Implementation of the D-8 PTA, in June in Abuja, Nigeria; 1st High Council Meeting of D-8 Technology Transfer and Exchange Network in July in Tehran, Iran; and 2nd Meeting of Tourism Cooperation in July also in Tehran.

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