MALAYSIA EXPRESSES STRONG CONFIDENCE IN INDONESIA’S D-8 CHAIRMANSHIP – AMBASSADOR

JAKARTA, March 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has expressed strong confidence in Indonesia’s leadership of the Developing Eight (D-8) Organisation for Economic Cooperation and pledged its full support to Jakarta’s chairmanship.

Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Syed Mohamad Hasrin Tengku Hussin said Malaysia believes Indonesia’s stewardship would ensure that the grouping not only delivers a successful summit but also strengthens cooperation among member states to enhance their economic resilience.

“Judging from the successful leadership of Indonesia in ASEAN, we have no doubt that Indonesia will lead the D8 successfully.

“Malaysia will lend its full support to the Indonesian chairmanship to ensure that not only the summit is successful but also the D-8 will provide the avenues for its members to work closely together to improve the economic resilience of its members,” he said on Antara’s ‘International Corner’ TV programme on Tuesday.

Indonesia will host the D-8 Summit in Jakarta next April under the theme “Navigating Global Shifts: Strengthening Equality, Solidarity and Cooperation for Shared Prosperity.”

Established in 1997, the D-8 was formed to enhance economic cooperation among developing countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Turkiye, Egypt and Nigeria and later expanded to include Azerbaijan, bringing the bloc’s membership to nine countries.

Reflecting on the bloc’s economic trajectory, Syed Mohamad Hasrin noted that intra-D-8 trade has grown significantly since its establishment.

“When D-8 was established, the total trade between D-8 members was about US$30-35 billion, but in 2010 it increased to around US$60 billion. 

“Azerbaijan just joined us recently (2024), so before that, it was only eight countries. Now there are nine, so definitely there are rooms for strengthening economic cooperation between D-8 members,” he said.

He said there remains substantial potential to further enhance cooperation, particularly through improving trade facilitation processes among member states.

He said Malaysia is also keen to see a stronger emphasis on expanding trade and investment, including through the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement and new areas such as services and investment, alongside closer collaboration among business communities.

“The strength of Malaysia's industry is mostly based on SMEs. So we would like the D-8 to help strengthen the potential of our SMEs and those in Indonesia.” 

“For example, by engaging in business forums or business matching programmes. We hope that by doing so, the D-8 will be able to benefit our economic sector and, in turn, our people, not only in Malaysia but also in other D-8 member countries,” he added.

The 2026 Jakarta Summit is expected to produce a declaration reaffirming the bloc’s commitment to deeper economic cooperation, stronger solidarity with the Global South, and inclusive, sustainable development. 

-- BERNAMA