TEHRAN – The first meeting of industry ministers of developing eight countries (D8) will kick off today in Tehran.

“The event is aimed to utilize capacities in order to increase the influence of D8 countries in global industry,” the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network quoted Iranian Industries and Mines Minister Ali-Akbar Mehrabian as saying.
""Automotive, energy, environment, technology transfer, petrochemicals, textile, standards and copyrights, small- and medium-sized industries, food, cement, electronics, and IT are the main fields of cooperation between the D8 member states,"" Mehrabian added.
Following the “Conference on Cooperation for Development”, on October 22, 1996, and after a series of preparatory meetings, the establishment of D8 was announced officially by the Summit of Heads of State in Istanbul, on June 15, 1997. It consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.
The combined population of the eight countries is about 60 percent of the Muslim people, or close to 13 percent of the world’s population.
The objectives of D8 are to improve developing countries' positions in the world economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at the international level, and provide better standards of living