Bangladesh seeks to delay D-8 summit over virus fears

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Set to host a summit of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation in May, Bangladesh is seeking its postponement over concerns of spreading coronavirus pandemic.

“You may be sure that amid the prevailing situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not possible at all to hold such a big conference,” Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told Anadolu Agency on Monday.

Drawing on to the prevailing situation, he added: “D-8 conference means a huge gathering of thousands of people and presence of huge number of high profile delegates of different countries. So we don’t want to take any risk in this situation.”

The minister said he issued a letter to his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu seeking his advice in this regard, as Turkey is the current chair of the Developing-8 group.

Momen said lockdowns will continue in most of the countries throughout April and in the meantime the Muslim holy Ramadan will begin. “So we have informed our position to Turkey to postpone the summit.”

“Turkey has requested us to hold a video conference with focal point on COVID-19 pandemic and its imminent impacts,” the top diplomat said.

The concerned departments of both countries are working on how to successfully organize the video conference, he added.

Meanwhile, an official from the D-8 headquarters told Anadolu Agency that the "summit has been postponed."

"The new date will be announced after this pandemic Insha Allah," the official said on the condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media.

"Right now, we are working with our Member States through our D-8 Health and Social Protection Program office, which is in Nigeria, on the Covid-19 disease," added the official.

Bangladesh is scheduled to host the 10th D-8 summit in the capital Dhaka in May. Last year, Turkey hosted the summit in Istanbul, marking the 20th anniversary of the organization’s foundation.

The D-8 was established in 1997 for economic cooperation among eight countries -- Turkey, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, and Nigeria.

*Riyaz-ul Khaliq from Ankara contributed to this story.