Hina Calls For Enhanced Economic Cooperation Amongst D-8 Countries.

ISLAMABAD -- Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar yesterday called for creating a 'Private Sector Coordination Facility' to boost economic cooperation amongst the Developing-Eight (D-8) countries. The MoS spoke virtually to the 20th Session of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers, hosted by Bangladesh in a hybrid format, the Foreign Office said. The MoS called for creating a conducive environment for trade through facilitative legal frameworks, and equal opportunities for investment and business. She underscored that Pakistan's vision of geo-economics had socio-economic growth, connectivity, and development at its core.

Through cooperation and partnerships, the D-8 countries can realise their true economic potential. Khar highlighted that Pakistan's location afforded critical overland and maritime connectivity to key regions of Asia - Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and China - that made Pakistan geo-politically among the most pivotal states in the world.

'We were confident that through the CPEC, this geo-political asset will rapidly turn into a geo-economic dividend,' she underlined. The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, in his capacity as the Chair of the Council of Ministers, presided over the meeting. Foreign Ministers of Trkiye and Iran, and Minister of State of Nigeria, alongside senior officials from Egypt, Indonesia and Malaysia, also participated in the meeting. The council meeting was preceded by the 45th Session of the D-8 Commission which adopted a series of major decisions building on the progress achieved. One of the key decisions taken by the council was to fully operationalize the Preferential Trade Agreement by 31 October, 2022 with a view to achieving the intra-D-8 trade target of US $500 billion agreed under the Decennial Road Map 2020-30.

| Ministers agree to hold special session of D-8 Commission in October this year to make

final...