Arifur Rahman Rabbi
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Monday called for common investment policies among the D-8 member countries. He also sought to create a fund to bankroll blue economy and development among the eight Muslim nations.
“We need common investment policies, guidelines, and strategies including diaspora investment opportunities; and work for minimising tariff and non-tariff barriers. We also need to create funds for development, R&D, technology transfer, capacity building and support for institutions and centres of excellence, including the SME and blue economy sectors,” Momen said while speaking at the D-8 Business Forum held virtually.
Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey are the members of the group.
The foreign minister said as businessman, one cannot but accept the pressing need of enhanced connectivity and collaboration in this new reality, to ensure safe and sustainable outputs and profit margins.
In this regard, the statute of the D-8 CCI (Chamber of Commerce and Industries) could be a vital tool for such cooperation among the member states through forging economic integration to ensure social development, he added.
“Today’s world is facing uncertainty in all aspects because of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The UN has estimated that the global economy is expected to lose nearly 8.5 trillion dollars in output over the next two years. It is this unfortunate situation that has compelled us to hold this auspicious Business Forum virtually. At the same time, it is on you, the leaders of business sector who have a special responsibility and challenge to help the global economy turn around,” said Momen.
Highlighting on collaboration among the member states, Momen said the total GDP of the D-8 member states is around 4.9 per cent of world GDP and the total population is around 15.3 per cent of world population. This is manifestation of the region’s consumer base for both service and commodities along with its inherent growth potentials, he adds.
“To tap into that, I believe D-8 CCI could play the key role through effective collaboration and partnership with their government sector in addition to their own networking mechanism. “
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