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The third ministerial meeting on the trade of Developing Eight (D-8) countries is expected to be held in Dhaka soon, aiming to expedite the process of full implementation of the D-8 PTA, officials said.
The D-8 Secretariat has already asked the foreign ministry to take necessary preparations for the meeting, named '3rd Trade Ministers Council' (TMC).
The D-8 calendar of events for the year 2022 was approved by the 45th session of the D-8 commission and subsequently by the 20th session of the D-8 foreign ministers council held in Dhaka in July 2022.
In the meeting, it was agreed to host the 7th supervisory committee meeting followed by the 3rd TMC.
The Secretariat has further underlined that trade is the major cornerstone of the D-8 organisation. One of the prime objectives enshrined in the vision of this organisation is to boost trade among the member states.
Over the years, significant progress has been achieved by the contracting parties of the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA). In addition to the three implementing states (Iran, Malaysia, and Türkiye), Bangladesh and Indonesia have completed their necessary internal procedures and published gazette notifications for the implementation of the D-8 PTA, according to the D-8 Secretariat.
Nigeria and Pakistan have also expressed their strong commitment to finishing their internal procedures to meet the deadline for full implementation, which is 31 October 2022.
Furthermore, the contracting parties have also concluded the negotiation over the draft text of the Protocol on Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) and the Trade Facilitation Strategy (TFS) of the D-8 PTA.
The two important documents are expected to be adopted in the 3rd TMC to help the contracting parties step further to ensure the smooth implementation of this agreement.
The 2nd TMC on Trade was hosted by Pakistan in 2016.
During the Chairmanship of the Republic of Türkiye, the Ministry of Trade of Türkiye convened several supervisory and customs officials meetings.
However, the 3rd TMC, originally scheduled to be hosted by Türkiye in November 2018, had to be postponed due to the lack of quorum.