WANA (Dec 19) – Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian while addressing the 11th summit of leaders of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, highlighted the importance of preserving friendship and creating new bonds of multilateral cooperation among Islamic countries and stated, “Islamic countries must stand united against Israeli aggression.”

 

“At the current time, the importance of maintaining friendship and establishing new connections through multilateral cooperation among Islamic countries based on development and protecting collective interests is felt more than ever,” the president said during his speech on Thursday in Cairo, Egypt.

 

“Moving towards multilateralism and the creation of smart economic and trade networks among countries is a correct trend derived from demands by most of the nations,” he added during his address to the summit of the D-8 made up of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkiye.

 

The Iranian president also called for the review of shaping the future cooperation, citing growing industrial development and the emergence of new technologies, as well as the key role played by the youth in the development of their countries.

 

“The youth are undoubtedly valuable assets, and planning for flourishing their capacities is the most profitable investment in line with our national and collective interests,” he said.

 

“Given the growing prosperity of industrial sectors and entering new technological fields, the review of how future cooperation is shaped is essential. Knowledge-based topics and moving towards development are the areas where the youth are flag-bearers, and D-8 countries, through using their extensive human and infrastructural capabilities, are able to attain a distinguished position in the process of combining industry and technology,” Pezeshkian explained.

 

The Iranian president announced his country’s support for any initiative aimed at economic synergy and paving the way for the youth participation in development plans. The Islamic Republic of Iran is also interested in exchanging its experience and sharing achievements in that regard, he added.

 

As part of collective support for young entrepreneurs, Iran is also ready to take joint action within D-8, including the establishment of “D-8 joint bank for ideas and capital”, the “construction of joint science and technology parks and houses”, “holding scientific-technology tours and meetings”, “granting study funds and exchange of students and academics”, and “investment in small and medium-sized enterprises”, among others, President Pezeshkian noted.

 

He also touched upon trade among the D-8 member countries, saying that the current volume of trade is far from the 2030 outlook set by the organization. To increase trade, barter can play a decisive role, Pezeshkian said.

 

Given the geographical distances among the D-8 countries, he highlighted the significance of developing transit among them in order to promote trade and economic cooperation.

 

The D-8 members should also focus on the fields that, while protecting collective growth and interests, help the member states increase their resilience in the face of possible shocks as well, the Iranian president said.

 

In this line, he added, modern-day technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) should be used, while their adverse effects should be handled.

 

 

The president proposed that the summit of D-8 leaders issue the necessary instruction on using those technologies with the aim of increasing the resilience of the member states’ economies.

 

“The first meeting of the D-8 Permanent Committee on Communications and Information Technology will soon be hosted by the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we can begin working on this instruction in cooperation with [other] members,” the Iranian president said.

 

He added that knowledge-based companies and new technologies, including AI, have provided appropriate and innovative grounds for the cooperation of the young people in Islamic states so that they can take significant steps towards the development of their countries while preserving indigenous and religious values.

 

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president also called for cooperation among the D-8 member states to stop the Israeli regime’s aggression against Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, where innocent people continue to lose their lives.