Leaders from Egypt, Iran, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey attended a Developing 8 summit in Abuja, Nigeria in July. In an e-mail interview, Gareth Jenkins , Istanbul-based analyst and author of ” Political Islam in Turkey: Running West, Heading East? “, explains the background and current state of the D-8. WPR: What is the historic background and focus of the Developing 8, and how is it evolving? Gareth Jenkins: The Developing 8 (D-8) was founded on June 15, 1997, in Istanbul. It was the brainchild of Necmettin Erbakan, modern Turkey’s first Islamist prime minister, who wanted to create a Muslim alternative to what was then the Group of Seven (G-7) of leading industrialized nations, later to become the G-8. The eight founding members were Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey. Although the D-8 is theoretically open to new members, no other countries have applied to join. One of the main restraints on the development of the D-8 is that its members are widely dispersed and relatively poor, with limited transportation links. Most are not “natural” economic partners and their most important economic relationships — whether for trade or in other areas such as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) — are with countries or economic blocs (such as the EU) that are not members of the organization. The D-8 members tend to give priority to developing and maintaining these relationships rather than to ties with other D-8 states. WPR:What impact has it had on economic and political ties between member states? Jenkins: The D-8 organizes heads of state summit meetings once every two years, in addition to more frequent conferences, seminars and working groups on specific sectors and issues. Although the D-8 has not established itself as a global player in its own right, these regular contacts have strengthened bilateral economic cooperation between member states, even if the overall impact remains relatively limited. According to the organization’s own figures, intra-member trade currently accounts for an average of 4.3 percent of individual members’ total foreign trade. The highest proportion is in Pakistan, for whom trade with other D-8 members accounts for 8.3 percent of its total foreign trade. On May 14, 2006, all of the member states except Bangladesh signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which foresees reducing tariffs on the trade of specific goods. However, implementation is proving problematic. It is currently unclear whether either the PTA or other more ambitious proposals — such as free trade and visa-free travel between member states — will ever be realized. WPR: Does it have the potential to play a larger role in the global multilateral framework? Jenkins: There currently appears little prospect of the D-8 becoming a global player in its own right. Most members tend to look to membership of regional groupings or more powerful multilateral organizations as more effective means of exerting global influence. For example, Indonesia and Turkey are both members of the G-20, and appear to regard it as being a more effective global player than the D-8. Together with Iran, Turkey has always been one of the two most-active members of the D-8 (the D-8 Secretariat has been based in Istanbul since its inception). But, in June 2010, Turkey announced plans for an alternative Muslim economic bloc including the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

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Global Insider: The Developing 8