Developing 8 Countries Organization

D-8 Visited OIC to Join Forces on Implementation of MOU

D-8 Secretariat — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 11:35:24 +0000

D-8 SG, Dr. Widi A. Pratikto, paid an official visit to the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 22-23 April 2012.

In line with Memorandum of Understanding signed between the OIC General Secretariat and the General Secretariat of D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation on 7 October 2010, His Excellency, Dr. Widi A. Pratikto, Secretary General of D8, paid an official visit to the OIC Headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on 22-23 April 2012.

The Secretary General of D8 was received in audience by His Excellency Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of OIC, on 22 April 2012. The two sides exchanged views on the potential areas for collaboration, including coordination of their various activities in order to enhance synergy and effective implementation of their developmental programmes. In addition to on-going collaboration in the domain of trade promotion, agriculture and food security, as well as tourism development, the Secretary General of D8 welcomed the proposal for the sensitization of OIC Members States in D8 on the implementation of TPS-OIC and establishment of the relevant capacity building programmes in the fisheries sector for Somalia.

The Secretary General of OIC observed that cooperation between the two Organisations was very significant, considering the fact that all the D8 Member States are also Members of the OIC, and they account for about 70% of the OIC population as well as its GDP.—Agencies

Source: the Pakistan Observer.

The IFSB Gears Up for the 9th Annual IFSB Summit with Confirmed Speakers and Timely Topics

D-8 Secretariat — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:57:54 +0000

the 9th Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is scheduled to be held on 16 - 17 May 2012 at the Swissotel The Bosphorus in Istanbul. The Central Bank of Turkey is the host of the Summit.

Twenty prominent international speakers led by H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Managing Director of the World Bank and William Coen, Deputy Secretary-General, Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Bank for International Settlements; and including six major central bank governors have confirmed their participation in the 9th Annual Summit of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) which is scheduled to be held on 16 - 17 May 2012 at the Swissotel The Bosphorus in Istanbul. The Central Bank of Turkey is the host of the Summit.

The international financial system, post-subprime crisis, may never be the same again. Over the last few years, the watch words have been regulatory reform, especially the Basel III capital and liquidity framework reforms; systemic risk and risk mitigation; surveillance and stress testing and above all, financial stability. Globally, the focus has been on learning the lessons of the crisis with a new found emphasis on linking finance to serve the real economy.

In welcoming these developments, Islamic finance has not been immune to the impact and reverberations of the crisis. Yet, while profitability has come under pressure, the industry’s market penetration has improved and important sectors such as the sukuk market have thrived. Despite the expansion in cross-border financing opportunities, however, the looming challenge is to attain scale and depth in financial markets through strengthened regulatory frameworks, and through greater alignment and cross border cooperation between regulators on the one hand, and market players on the other.

As such, the theme of this year’s Summit, “Global Financial Reforms: The Changing Regulatory Model and Islamic Finance” aims to evaluate whether reforms in financial regulation structure and prudential standards equip the Islamic financial services industry in addressing its future challenges. It also aims at identifying the priority areas in the prudential regulation of Islamic finance that may need focus and attention by regulators and market players alike.

The session topics reflect the pertinence of the Summit theme at hand. These include: “International Regulatory Initiatives to Enhance Global Financial Stability”, “Impact of International Regulatory Initiatives on the Islamic Financial Services Industry”, “Regulatory Harmonisation and Cross-border Linkages in Islamic Finance”, “Global Financial Infrastructure of Islamic Finance” and “Global Regulatory Reform and the Prospects for the Islamic Financial Services Industry”.

H.E. Dr. Erdem Basci, Governor of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey; and his fellow regulators who have confirmed their participation including H.E. Yves Mersch, Governor of the Banque centrale du Luxembourg, H.E.Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz; Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia; H.E. Sanusi Lamido Aminu Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; H.E. Dr. Jihad Al Wazir, Governor, Palestine Monetary Authority; and H.E. Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE.

Also participating will be H.E. Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Hinai, Vice President Finance of the Islamic Development Bank; Dr. Ghiath Shabsigh, Chief, Middle East and Central Asia Division, Monetary & Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund; Abayomi Alawode, Manager, Financial Systems Global Practice, The World Bank and Mahmoud Abu Shamma, CEO, International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM).

Other thought leaders and CEOs of the Islamic financial institutions who will be speaking at the Summit are Professor Dr. Necdet Sensoy, Member of the Board, Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey; Dr. Ibrahim M. Turhan, Chairman and CEO, Istanbul Stock Exchange, Turkey; Professor Volker Nienhaus, Former President, University of Marburg, Germany; Daud Vicary Abdullah, President / Chief Executive Officer, International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF); Baljeet Kaur Grewal, Managing Director and Vice Chairman, KFH Research Ltd., Malaysia; Iqbal Khan, Chief Executive Officer, Fajr Capital, United Arab Emirates; Richard Thomas OBE, Chief Executive Officer, Gatehouse Bank Plc., United Kingdom; Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad, Malaysia and Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer and Board Member, Shariah Capital Inc., United Arab Emirates.

The main proceedings will be preceded by three pre-Summit events. The IFSB Country Showcases will feature the Turkey Country Showcase organised by the Central Bank of Turkey and the Malaysia Country Showcase organised by Bank Negara Malaysia, which will be held on 15 May 2012. In the afternoon of the same day, there will be a Special Session on Promoting Financial Inclusion through Islamic Microfinance.

The IFSB Country Showcases are effectively platforms for selected IFSB member and non-member countries to portray their Islamic finance initiatives, incentives and experiences in adopting and promoting the growth of a sound and stable Islamic financial services industry, and presented to a high profile, focused group of potential investors and stakeholders. It is also an excellent opportunity for networking and opening doors to potential investments and business partnerships - from among the IFSB members as well as the local, regional and international financial community - specifically those attending the Summit.

The Special Session on Islamic Microfinance is especially timely, given its growing importance together with financing small-and-medium-sized-enterprises (SMEs) especially their role in generating youth employment and helping towards alleviating poverty in developing countries. Thus, for instance, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has already allocated US$250 million to Egypt and Tunisia to finance projects which would generate youth employment and entrepreneurship. At the same time the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector funding arm of the IDB Group, has recently launched a SR1 billion SME Fund for Saudi Arabia and plans to launch similar vehicles for other countries as well.

Microfinance, stresses the IFSB, has emerged as a viable proposition in offering financial services to low-income groups. It serves as an important tool to access unbankable individuals, especially in Muslim countries, and is seen to be an effective tool in poverty alleviation efforts. Despite its global success, there are genuine concerns emerging in the industry over the efficacy of microfinance with regards to whether the initiatives actually achieve their desired objectives. This is due to evident failures of such initiatives in certain countries.

In view of this development, and in line with recommendations of IFSB-IDB 10-Year Framework and Strategies for Development of Islamic Financial Services Industry, the IFSB Special Session on ‘Promoting Financial Inclusion through Islamic Microfinance’ is the first IFSB programme to look into this issue. It aims to gain an understanding on global practices of Islamic microfinance, and to explore the effectiveness of the existing structure, as well as the need for a specific regulatory and supervisory framework for Islamic microfinance as a social support mechanism for the growing sector.

The Special Session on Islamic Microfinance will see the participation of H.E Yaseen Anwar, Governor, State Bank of Pakistan, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Khair Ahmed Elzubear, Governor, Central Bank of Sudan, Professor Dr M. Azmi Omar, Director General, Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), IDB Group; Ali Sakti, Researcher, Islamic Banking Directorate, Bank Indonesia; Jahangir Alam, Executive Director, Central Bank of Bangladesh; and Michael Tarazi, Senior Policy Specialist, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). The two topics that will be discussed are the “Development of Islamic Microfinance and Selected Case Studies” and “Challenges in Microfinance from the Regulatory and Sharī`ah Perspectives”. There will also be a panel discussion on “Islamic Microfinance Institutions: The Way Forward”.

For more details on the 9th IFSB Summit and pre-Summit events, please visit www.ifsbistanbul2012.com or email yazmin@ifsb.org

USEFUL Links:
http://www.ifsb.org/event_detail.php?e_id=171
http://www.ifsbistanbul2012.com/press.html

D-8 to Further Step in Trade Enhancement through SC PTA

D-8 Secretariat — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 07:28:13 +0000

D-8 had recently organized the First Meeting of the Supervisory Committee of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), in Istanbul, on 22 March 2012 with discussion on a set of important issues

D-8 had recently organized the First Meeting of the Supervisory Committee of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), in Istanbul, on 22 March 2012 with discussion on a set of important issues. Delegates Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey as Contracting Parties and Bangladesh and Egypt as observers attended this first meeting of supervisory committee emanated from the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement. The discussion was fruitful in producing various encouraging results to the goal of increasing trade volume among member countries. PTA among D-8 Member States, which has been signed by head of states in Bali, Indonesia (May 2006) and entered into force on 25 August 2011, is a very significant achievement of the Organization towards the enhancement of economic and trade integration of the Member States.

This meeting was the first important step to discuss the revised Offer Lists and rules of procedures among Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey, and this achievement will also encourage Bangladesh and Egypt to accelerate the ratification process.

The participants discussed various issues for the implementation of the PTA. They presented brief reports on their internal procedures on the implementation of the PTA at the national level and all member countries agreed that the entry into force of PTA is a key step for further development of D-8 intra-trade by means of both quantity and diversity.

The D-8 PTA envisages cooperation scheme that strongly will benefit its Member countries, and shall strengthen other steps that have been taken in D-8 Organization to boost trading volume and economic interaction among member countries. The 1-day meeting was concluded with the adoption of Report of the Meeting.

Photos of this event can be viewed through our gallery by clicking here.

31st Session Discussed Key Agendas in Abuja

D-8 Secretariat — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:37:04 +0000

The 31st Session of D-8 Commission meeting took place in Abuja, Nigeria, during the 12-14 March, 2011

The 31st Session of D-8 Commission meeting took place in Abuja, Nigeria, during the 12-14 March, 2011, and deliberated on various issues and matters concerning the D-8 Organization, among them consideration of D-8 Charter, Global Vision and economic cooperation issues like PTA. Participation of delegates from the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Malaysia, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey attended the meeting.

H.E. Dr. Martin Uhomoibhi, the D-8 Commissioner and the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, presided as a chairman of the meeting. Dr. H.A.B. Ajayi, National President of NACCIMA (Nigeria), also made a short presentation, on the activities of the Federation.

H.E. Dr. Widi A. Pratikto, D-8 Secretary-General, made an opening statement on the activities of the Organization and the Secretariat since the last Session of the Commission. In his speech, the Secretary-General underlined the importance of the consideration of the Global Vision, D-8 Charter, the amendment of the Statutory Documents, the implementation of PTA.

On the Global Vision Agenda the Commissioners discussed in relative detail various aspects of the matter at hand, including the structure and the content of the draft under consideration. Together with finalization of the draft Charter, the finalization of draft Global Vision was recorded as among the achievement of the 31st Session.

During the implementation of PTA, another important item, Secretary-General made a brief introductory statement on the background of the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) and the progress achieved thus far towards its implementation including the first meeting of the Supervisory Committee which is scheduled for 22 March 2012 (Istanbul). The subsequent exchange among the Commissioners mostly focused on the scheduled first meeting of the PTA Supervisory Committee.

The Commission also considered the Calendar of Events for the year 2012. The Commission confirmed some tentative dates for arranging meeting on different sectors like WG Petrochemical Meeting, Workshop on E-Health & Telemedicine, 2nd Working Group Meeting on SMEs, Private Sector Investment Workshop on Gene Bank Development and Management & Investment In Fertilizer Production, 3rd Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture. The Commission believe that those meetings will bring productive results for D-8 member countries and will give chances to come close each other and share their resources, expertise, and experience.

Photos related to this Session can be viewed here.

D8-Related Business Council Meeting, Lagos, Nigeria

D-8 Secretariat — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:14:48 +0000

(D-8) Business Council, currently managed by the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce of Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), recently held its 1st General Meeting on 8 December 2011 at the NACCIMA House in Lagos

[D-8] Business Council, currently managed by the Nigerian Association of Chamber of Commerce of Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), recently held its 1st General Meeting on 8 December 2011 at the NACCIMA House in Lagos. The Council comprises of businessmen and women who are already engaged in business with D-8 countries, those interested in such activities as well as companies operating in Nigeria from other D-8 countries.

Special Guest of Honour at the meeting was the Nigerian D-8 Commissioner, Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi, who was represented by Mr. Emozozo Adamu, Director of Multilateral Economic Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was chaired by Dr. H.A.B. Ajayi, National President, NACCIMA and Chairman, D-8 Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI).

The meeting expressed satisfaction with the trend of increase in the economic activities between and among the D-8 countries, and invited more active participation from Nigerian private sector, particularly members of the Business Council, in the activities of the private sector in various D-8 countries.

The meeting also served to acquaint the Council with the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to D-8 in Istanbul, and expressed the hope that regular flow of information on D-8 activities could be increased, including through closer liaison with the Embassies of the D-8 countries in Nigeria.

The meeting also was briefed on the concept and practice of Islamic Banking System and participants were encouraged to take advantage of this rather new mechanism.

The Nigerian Permanent Secretary/D-8 Commissioner commended NACCIMA for her efforts in establishing the Business Council.

D-8 Concludes Meeting on Renewable Energy Sector

D-8 Secretariat — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 09:02:57 +0000

The 2nd Meeting of the D-8 Working Committee on Renewable Energy was successfully held from 16-17 November 2011 in Bali, Indonesia

The 2nd Meeting of the D-8 Working Committee on Renewable Energy was successfully held from 16-17 November 2011 in Bali, Indonesia. The Meeting, attended by all D-8 member countries, was hosted by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia and also attracted active participation from private sectors in the renewable energy sector.

During the first meeting in Ankara last year, potential project and technical assistance proposals for further promotion of cooperation in this field were made. In this second meeting in Bali, Indonesia, the progress and explore future development and wider cooperation were among the topics elaborated by the participants.

The meeting was filled with lively session of exchange of views among the participants with regards to the development of renewable energy in their respective countries and lesson that can be learnt to increase the awareness and developmental stage of this particular sector.

Photo from this meeting can be viewed by clicking here.

Exploring & Developing the potential of Islamic Finance through the D-8 Islamic Microfinance Workshop

D-8 Secretariat — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 08:50:05 +0000

The Islamic Banking Department of Bank of Indonesia and BRI Syariah as co-hosts organized the D-8 Workshop on the Role of Islamic Microfinance in Economic Prosperity and Community Empowerment from 11-13 November 2011

The Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia, Halim Alamsyah, opened the “D-8 Islamic Microfinance Workshop”, which is also the 2nd D-8 Working Group on Development of the Islamic Financial Services Industry, on Friday 11th November 2011 in Jakarta. Bank Indonesia (BI) is hosting the workshop in conjunction with Developing Eight (D-8) member countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Islamic banking arm of BRI. The meeting is themed “The Role of Islamic Microfinance in Economic Prosperity and Community Empowerment”, which incorporates a number of issues relating to policy, the concept and best practices of Islamic microfinance in Indonesia as well as other Developing Eight member countries, and will be held from 11th – 13th November 2011.

The workshop was held in anticipation of the rapid Islamic financial development experienced over the past few years as well as to further explore and develop Islamic financial potential (particularly Islamic microfinance) in D-8 member countries, of which the majority are Moslem. Brisk Islamic financial development has piqued the interest of global financial organisations and countries around the world in terms of raising the position of Islamic finance on the international financial landscape. In fact, The World Bank Group has formally recognised Islamic financing, which has been set as a priority area in its financial sector program.

“Islamic microfinance still represents a small portion of Islamic finance as a whole, however, rapid development has been witnessed in the past few years in terms of service and nurturing community empowerment through Islamic financial activities and transactions in order to achieve public welfare goals”, explained Halim Alamsyah in his opening speech.

This activity is part of the program to boost the capacity of human resources aimed at: (i) supporting the campaign for economic prosperity and community empowerment, particularly in D-8 member countries; (ii) assisting D-8 member countries to develop sustainable Islamic microfinance programs; (iii) enhancing the expertise, skills and capacity of policymakers and practitioners of Islamic microfinance in D-8 member countries; (iv) providing a medium for D-8 member countries to share their experiences on Islamic microfinance; and (v) raising participant awareness regarding the importance of establishing a network among D-8 member countries to develop an Islamic microfinance system as one way to ameliorate public welfare.

A range of views from the relevant authorities as well as Islamic microfinance market players, both banks and non-banks, will be expressed covering the full gamut of policy, the concept, role and best-practices as well as the views of the universities as centres of excellence, in order to prepare and develop the concepts necessary, including the appropriate training of human resources to fill positions in this field. The issues to be discussed include (i) regulatory authority perspectives of Islamic microfinance development; (ii) practices of Islamic microfinance (banks and non-banks) in supporting small enterprises and/or community empowerment; (iii) role of Islamic Commercial Banks in supporting Islamic microfinance; and (iv) Islamic microfinance concept and education development.

Source: Bank Indonesia

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D-8 Custom Agreement Officially Enters into Force Today

D-8 Secretariat — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:44:31 +0000

the Agreement has entered into force between Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey as of today, 24 October 2011

In compliance with the provisions of Article 23 of the “Multilateral Agreement Among D-8 Member Countries on Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters”, the Agreement has entered into force between Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey as of today, 24 October 2011.

D-8 believes that the entry into force of the Customs Agreement is a very significant achievemet of the Organization towards the enhancement of economic and trade cooperation among the Member Countries. The Organization also strongly encourage the remaining countries which have yet to rafity the Agreement to do so as soon as possible.

D-8 Minister Meeting on Industry Successfully Concluded in Istanbul

D-8 Secretariat — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:51:01 +0000

D-8 Organization has succesfully held the 2nd Industrial Ministerial Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey

D-8 Organization has successfully held the 2nd Industrial Ministerial Meeting and 6th Working Group on Industrial Cooperation (WGIC) during 4-6 October 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey, to strengthen its industrial cooperation among member countries in order to find and secure opportunities for new investment and markets, with the recovery of the global economy continued robustly during the final months of 2010 and into early 2011.

D-8 has previously held its 1st Industrial Ministerial Meeting and the 5th Working Group on Industrial Cooperation (WGIC) in early 2010 in Tehran. At the Tehran Meeting D-8 has tried to utilize existing capacities in order to increase industrial cooperation within its ranks and improve its collective relative weight in the global industry. The “Tehran Declaration” provides a quite pragmatic approach to move in the direction of expanding industrial and technological cooperation amongst us. It also lays out a number of practical policies and measures towards increasing industrial and market opportunities as well as financial resources.

This meeting designed to take stock of D-8’s collective performance thus far, analyze the situation with each and every Task Force it holds under the Working Group on Industry, and adopt a very objective and realistic approach to their future work, including with respect to the current mechanism of the coordination of Task Forces shared between and among a number of countries – which, in certain cases, might have not proved conducive to achieving the desired pace of dynamism and progress. The emphasize is being put on a number of Task Forces, for example Petrochemical/Fertilizer and Food Production Task Forces, which need to be accorded special attention, since they directly serve to increase food security for and within the D-8 community with almost 1 billion population and quite serious pockets of challenge in this field.

D-8 has had agreement with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on a Memorandum of Understanding covering a wide range of areas of development-related activities, with special emphasis on agriculture and food security. In this special meeting in Istanbul, and at the margins of the Ministerial Meeting, D-8 has also signed M.O.U. with ECO (Economic Cooperation Organization).

Industry ministers of D-8 countries released on Thursday an Istanbul Declaration at the end of their three-day meeting.

Documents resulting from the meeting can be downloaded from the links below.

Senior Officials Meeting Report

Report of the 2nd Ministerial on Industry

Istanbul Declaration

Photos of the meetings can be viewed from our Gallery (click here)

D-8 Private Sectors Questionnaire

D-8 Secretariat — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:07:10 +0000

In order to preview the economic problems and needs of private sectors of D-8 member countries, D-8 Federation of Chambers of Commerce has prepared a questionnaire to Honorable D-8 FCCI Members.

After being filled, the questionnaire may be sent back to secretariat@developing8.org

You may click below link to download the questionnaire:

questionnaire-d8.