State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Tuesday asked the youths of the D-8 countries to produce a draft action plan that will map out strategies on how the power of the member states’ youths will be harnessed in reaching UN SDGs and D-8 economic endeavors.
He was speaking at the first-ever D-8 Youth Summit held virtually ahead of the leaders’ summit on April 8.
The aim of this first ever “D-8 Youth Summit 2021” has been to ignite young minds and rekindle their aspirations to pursue the goal for a better world, where the benefits of development reach all, the state minister said.
In doing so, he said, they will produce the draft action plan and highlight the importance of digital and creative economies for the developmental aspirations of the Member States and identify youth’s role in these sectors and bring national youth-led organizations together with international stakeholders so as to leverage spillover benefits from global best-practices.
D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development cooperation among the member states. The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997.
Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are the members of the grouping.
The total GDP of the D-8 Member States is around 4.9% of world GDP and the total population is around 15.3% of world population.
This is manifestation of the region’s consumer base for both service and commodities along with its inherent growth potentials.
The state minister said the D-8 was initiated with the hopes and dreams of achieving economic betterment of the citizens of its Member States.
“Despite our best efforts, events like the unprecedented and uncalled for COVID-19 pandemic, have disrupted our endeavors. However, your presence today clearly reflects the D-8 Member States’ continued interest in realizing their developmental goals and aspirations,” he told the youths.
During the sessions, the participating youths have been exposed to ideas not only from experts presenting keynote speech or stakeholder deliberation, but also from their peers.
“Most importantly, we have tried to create the opportunity to ensure that you have the platform to test different ideas and initiatives,” the state minister said.
“I hope you not only brainstormed, cooperated, and collaborated but also had the opportunity to take away some ideas in the process.”