Feb.  25, 2001

Mubarak Press Conference at the end of
D8 meetings

    Mubarak said the D-8 Summit issued the Cairo Declaration detailing the outcome of the summit.

    He explained that the Cairo Final Declaration shows that the Summit has been preceded by a series of meetings at the level trade experts and foreign ministers with a view to addressing all details pertaining to mutual cooperation.

    Each of the coordinators has forwarded a report on the activities followed up over the last two years under the chairmanship of Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikha Hassina, said Mubarak.

    The President added that the Summit has also discussed a number of future cooperation frameworks. Including Egypt’s proposal for cooperation and coordination between D-8 insurance and reinsurance companies as well as exchange of expertise between the member-states in the field of financing micro enterprises.

    He remarked that the D-8 leaders hailed the resolution approved by the Doha Islamic summit to establish a contact channel between the D-8 and the OIC. And they discussed the measures to be taken to promote this cooperation.

    This is besides cooperation between the Group and other international organizations such as the Islamic Bank for Development, the UN, UN Development Program, WTO, FAO and UNIDO.

    President Mubarak explained that in this vein, he has assigned the Egyptian Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade to call for a meeting for his D-8 counterparts at their earliest convenience to prepare for the WHO ministerial meeting due to be held in Qatar in November 2001.

    The presidents, heads of state and ministers have exchanged views on the future activities of the group in which many constructive ideas have been forwarded, he added.

    Mubarak concluded that at the end of the meeting all participants expresses their deep thanks for H.E. Prime Minster of Bangladesh and her government for their efficient leadership of the Group over the last two years. They also welcomed the generous Indonesian invitation for hosting the coming summit in Jakarta in 2003.