President Jonathan expressed "Genuine" concern for the need for a sustained and well developed Nigerian Economy, he buttress on the effort his administration has made in extending Trade & Commerce with other D-8 Nations amongst other Achievements
The Developing 8 (D-8 or Developing Eight) are a Group of Developing Countries with large Muslim populations that have formed an economic development alliance. It consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states’ position in the global economy, diversify and create New opportunities in Trade Relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living. D-8 is a Global arrangement rather than a Regional one, as the composition of its Members reflects. Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multilateral commitments of the Member Countries, emanating from their Membership to other International or Regional Organizations.
With All Convictions, Nigeria stand a Good Chance of benefiting immensely from this Summit as President Jonathan is poised in tapping from the potentials of Member States in Transforming the Nigerian Economy.
MOA,
Below is an excerpt of President Jonathan’s Address to Member States and other Participants @The Summit.
STATEMENT
By
DR GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCON, GCFR
President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria
AT THE
8TH D-8 SUMMIT
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
ISLAMABAD, 22ND NOVEMBER 2012
Your Excellency, President Asif Zardari of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Esteemed Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of Delegation of Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey and Iran
Honourable Ministers
Honourable Commissioners
The Secretary-General of D-8 Organisation
Distinguished Members of Delegation
Distinguished Guests
Members of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a privilege for me to be able to address this Summit again. In my earlier remarks while handing over the chair of our Organisation to His Excellency, President Asif Zardari of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, I reflected briefly on Nigeria’s stewardship of this young and dynamic Organization in the course of the past two years.
I believe that the D-8 is moving in the right direction. However, I also know that there is still much work to do to enable the D-8 to achieve its fullest potentials. As leaders of our various countries, it is our responsibility to provide the vision and the political will to make the D-8 a model of successful south-south cooperation.
Nigeria values its membership of the D-8 as a platform for economic cooperation and promotion of trade for sustainable development. We therefore welcome investments from D-8 Member Countries in our economy in furtherance of our Organisation’s lofty goal to promote solidarity and joint efforts in economic and trade activities.
As you may well know, the Nigerian economy is not only expanding at a fast rate but also offers very high rate of returns on investments. Only recently, we adopted more investor friendly measures, such as a new long stay visa policy for investors and businessmen and women wishing to do business in our country. We have also strengthened the Bureau for Public Procurement, to ensure transparency in the tender process for contracts.
I am pleased to inform you that our efforts in Nigeria to promote our Organization’s strategic objectives are beginning to produce positive results. For instance, in June 2012, the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) embarked on a Trade Mission to explore opportunities for joint venture cooperation to three D-8 Countries. Taking advantage of the D-8’s Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), the NACCIMA Trade Mission succeeded in formalising trade deals with their counterparts in the countries visited.
I believe this is a cooperation model we can all build on, not just to increase D-8 intra-trade volume, but to make our Organisation a major actor in the global economic system. With a population of over one billion, D-8 shares a sizeable volume of international trade. If we cooperate and increase the volume of trade among D-8 countries, sooner than later, D-8 will be one of the leading global financial players.
The significant increase in the number of cooperative endeavours by Member States in the last two years provide evidence of our collective commitment to improve coordination and strengthen cooperation in the D-8’s major priority economic areas, namely, agriculture, food security, trade, industrial cooperation, transportation and energy.
We in Nigeria are happy to be part of the growing D-8 success story. For instance, in order to expand trade and economic collaboration among our members, and to ensure that the D-8 remains relevant as a multi-lateral platform for trade promotion, Nigeria hosted fifteen (15) D-8 meetings, out of the thirty-six (36) meetings organised by the Secretariat in the course of the last two years. It is re-assuring that these interactions have facilitated useful exchange of ideas and expertise, as well as serving as building blocks of productive and profitable partnerships among our member countries.
To build on these gains, Nigeria and the Islamic Republic of Iran jointly hosted the Working Group Meeting on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which we all agree are pivotal to the growth of our economies. By focusing on the major priority economic areas and promoting cooperation in the field of SMEs, I believe we will be able to create employment opportunities, tackle poverty and bring prosperity to millions of our citizens. In furtherance of this objective, Nigeria proposes to host two D-8 workshops or seminars in the SMEs and Agriculture sectors in 2013.
It is pertinent to note that this Summit coincides with the 15th Anniversary of the D-8. Consequently, the best gift we can give ourselves is to accelerate efforts to achieve the targets of the D-8 Roadmap for the Second Decade of Cooperation, as adopted at the 6th Summit in Kuala Lumpur in 2008. As we start a new phase in the progressive evolution of the D-8, we must ensure that the activities of the Organisation directly benefit our various countries and peoples.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, this Summit presents an opportunity for us to build on the success of the past years and take the D-8 to a higher level of achievement. With the completion of work on the draft Charter and other Statutory Documents of the D-8, our task at this Summit is already cut out. Our endorsement of these documents, which have been placed before us here in Islamabad, will be a fitting tribute to the vision and aspirations of the founders of our Organisation.
I thank you for the attention.
<2012 - 11-15 - STATEMENT - OCCASION - 8TH D-8 SUMMIT - FINAL VERSION.
-@MOAgbajoh
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