NEW YORK
The foreign ministers of the D-8 group are to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York on Thursday, according to a statement issued by the office of the Secretary General.
The Developing 8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) is a group of developing countries - Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey - with large Muslim populations which have formed an economic development alliance.
The statement said the objective of the meeting was to review and discuss the latest and most important developments held within the D-8, as well as to receive their suggestions and guidelines on the accomplishment of short and long-term goals.
The group will also discuss future external relations subsequent to the observer status in the UNGA, the outcome of the D-8 Eminent Persons Group (EPG) process and the 9th D-8 Summit scheduled for December 2014 in Turkey.
The group aims to obtain observer status at the UNGA so that the organization will gain more visibility within the periphery of the international community.
After the summit in December, Turkey will chair the group for the next two years.
The D-8 - established after an announcement in Istanbul, Turkey on 15 June, 1997 - was founded by former Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
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