Sezer in Tehran for D-8 summit

"We will discuss a set of measures to increase efficiency and influence of the D-8," Sezer told reporters in Ankara’s Esenboga Airport prior to his departure, "I hope the summit will serve strengthening of cooperation and solidarity among member nations and resolution of problems that are currently on the agenda."

Sezer was scheduled to have a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Muhammad Khatami in Tehran on Tuesday.
D-8 objectives

Leaders of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Nigeria were attending the summit in Tehran. Prior to the summit, officials from member countries attended in lower-level meetings, finalizing the agenda of the summit.

On Sunday, a committee of experts on investment and commerce also convened for the first time in history of the organization.

The D-8, first created in 1997 in Istanbul, is an organization aimed at enhancing cooperation between Islamic nations to achieve the goal of development.

The population of all D-8 countries combined numbers some 800 million, about 13 per cent of the world’s population, but these countries’ share of international trade amounts to only 3.5 percent of the world total.

The so-called Istanbul Declaration, which created the D-8, commits member countries to cooperate in order to improve members’ position in the world economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance the group’s participation in decision-making at the international level and provide better standards of living for the people of the member-countries.