The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Kuala Lumpur

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed on Tuesday made a clarion call to create a 'D-8 Food Fund' for enhancing collective food security, against the backdrop of the current global food crisis.

The Chief Adviser made this call to 'seriously consider' this matter while making his statement at the D-8 Summit held at the Conference Centre of Hotel Hilton here.

D-8 Chairperson and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave the address of welcome and chaired the session attended by the heads of government of the Developing 8 large Muslim countries including Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed.

Dr Fakhruddin's statement was highly appreciated by the D-8 leaders that covered important current global issues like price hike, climate change, energy crisis, tariff liberalisation, migration for development, tourism, people-to-people contact, and simplification of visa procedure.

The Chief Adviser reiterated Bangladesh's unflinching commitment to the principles and objectives of D-8 in promoting equitable development.

Bangladesh is confident that D-8 would reach a new trajectory of meaningful cooperation in the second decade of its existence, he hoped.

The Chief Adviser expressed gratitude to Malaysian Prime Minister Badawi and his government for hosting the Summit at this critical juncture and for showing warm welcome and gracious hospitality.

He also conveyed deepest appreciation to D-8 Secretary General Dipo Alam and his staff for advancing forward the forum despite limited resources and myriad challenges.

Referring to unprecedented price hike of food-grains globally, Dr Fakhruddin said, "It is disproportionately affecting the poor in many countries. We need to develop mechanisms, not only to address short-term supply-side shocks but also strengthen cooperation to increase agricultural productivity."

This is a must to prevent hunger and malnutrition-one of the key priorities of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), he added.

The Chief Adviser said, Bangladesh-as the current Chair of the LDCs-urged the UN Secretary General to form a high-level Task Force to address the current food crisis. It is heartening that the Secretary General has accepted Bangladesh's proposal and taken prompt action.

Pointing to the on-going world-wide energy crisis, Dr Fakhruddin said, the ever-rising price of bio-fuel make it an imperative that D-8 enhances its cooperation in the field of energy.

"We should collectively explore and implement capacity building programmes to ensure energy security of the member-states," he said and added among the D-8 members, we should be able to establish innovative financing mechanisms to ensure a steady supply of reliable and affordable energy.

Dr Fakhruddin said, D-8 should also strengthen its focus on renewable energy. Achieving energy security is a must if we are to realise our development potentials.

Referring to assuming of office by the Caretaker Government in Bangladesh, Dr Fakhruddin said it took the responsibility in January 2007 against the backdrop of a looming political crisis.

"Following our pledge and the roadmap, we are now at the final phase of political reforms to make our democracy meaningful and sustainable for our people," he added.

He said, the Caretaker Government has taken significant measures to eradicate corruption, promote the rights of our people, establish rule of law, improve law and order situation and make the Government, especially the judiciary, more effective and accountable.

The government is working relentlessly and uncompromisingly to achieve these goals of good governance, he said and added that these reforms are irreversible, the Caretaker Government has already started dialogue with political parties to forge a national consensus for good governance.

"Bangladesh's experience, we believe, can serve as an example for many developing countries who face the challenges of democracy and governance," he added.

Pointing that D-8 has prioritised trade as a thrust sector for growth, Dr Fakhruddin said, the current volume of D-8 intra- trade is, however, still very small-roughly US dollar 49 billion. It is only about 9 percent of the world trade.

"The relentless efforts of our High Level Trade Officials have already brought some tangible results. I am confident that full implementation of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) provisions will significantly boost the volume of our trade," he told the summit.

Our model of economic cooperation must, however, strike a balance between equity and efficiency, he said adding, this will set us apart from other economic cooperation frameworks. We must ensure equitable distribution of benefits and opportunities among the member-countries, taking into account the differences in our national circumstances.

The full "Recognition of needs of the Least Developed Contracting members" of D-8, as envisaged under Article-3(b) of the PTA, should be upheld in all contexts, the Chief Adviser hammered.

Tariff liberalisation, Dr Fakhruddin said, is only one aspect of the challenge. Our trade often faces significant difficulties due to lack of harmonisation in measurement, standards and testing quality. We must make comparable and consistent efforts to reduce these non- tariff and para-tariff barriers to optimise our trade potentials.

He cited the Customs Agreement, signed by all D-8 countries, as a good step forward and said, we must take the necessary next step to operationalise this agreement without further delay.

While making steady progress in forging a Preferential Trade Agreement, the Chief Adviser said, "We should, at the same time, aim at creating a D-8 Free Trade Area. It is encouraging that four members of D-8 have already concluded bilateral Free Trade Agreements."

This trend should continue to include all others. While the Doha Development Round continues to elude us, we must re-double our efforts to make trade an engine of growth, he added.

He emphasised the need for working together so that the developed countries remove their tariff and non-tariff barriers against our agricultural and textiles exports. "D-8 countries should enhance cooperation to reverse climate change and global warming", the Chief Adviser said and added keeping in mind that many LDCs and low-lying coastal states will be the worst victims of a climatic catastrophe.

Dr Fakhruddin said, D-8 members should cooperate in regional and multilateral forums to uphold the sacrosanct principle of "common but differentiated responsibility".

"Cooperation amongst us is a must to ensure that the developed countries make unilateral, meaningful and unconditional commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," he argued.

Dr Fakhruddin said, D-8 should actively pursue sustainable development with special emphasis on adaptation and technology transfers. The developed countries should provide us with adequate additional resources to address climate change adaptation needs in addition to regular Overseas Development Assistance.

He said, Bangladesh stands ready to offer its own experiences in adaptation techniques and practices.

In his speech, Dr Fakhruddin said, we should recognize the full potential of international migration to foster development.

"Migration, through remittances and transfer of knowledge, has proved to be a strong antidote for poverty. Opportunities for legal migration, however, remain limited because of various restrictive policies and practices in many destination countries" he added.

Dr Fakhruddin said, we should take concrete measures, and go beyond the visa agreement, to facilitate the movement of natural persons among the D-8 member-countries.

D-8 should also take a common position on liberalisation of Mode IV services to ease the movement of labour to the developed economies, he added.

He said, the Global Forum on Migration and Development offers a new platform to deliberate on these issues and we should work together in the Forum to make migration a development priority.

Since its inception in 1997, Dr Fakhruddin said, D-8 countries have crossed significant milestones in forging closer cooperation among our nations.

This Summit offers an opportunity to take stock of the achievements and assess the challenges that the Group faces today. This also provides us the momentum to formulate a plan of action for the second decade of D-8, he added.

"The venue of this Summit gives our Group the right perspective to prioritise our objectives. The Developing-8 should be able to replicate the success of Malaysia, individually and collectively" he added.

Dr Fakhruddin said, D-8 was established to promote economic and trade cooperation among member countries. Its goal is to create new trade opportunities, promote linkages, enhance leverage in multilateral decision-making process and, most importantly, attain better standards of living for people.

Against these targets, he said, "we must measure our success at the same time, identify the hurdles. Let us renew our resolve and devote additional resources to attain our cherished goals".

Referring to importance of enhancing people-to-people contact, Dr Fakhruddin said, the D-8 Agreement on Simplification of Visa Procedures for businessmen and the MOU on Air Services Cooperation are two landmarks in connecting the minds and hearts of our peoples.

"But agreement must translate into action. And this must happen soon. I am glad to inform you that Bangladesh has just ratified the D-8 Visa Agreement, which will greatly facilitate business travels to Bangladesh from other D-8 countries," he added.

The establishment of D-8 Business Forum is surely one of our remarkable achievements and will provide a useful platform for cross-fertilisation of ideas, innovation and investment, he said and hoped that the Business Forum would take up realistic projects and joint ventures to foster meaningful cooperation among the D-8 countries.