ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will host the fourth D-8 Senior Officials Meeting and third D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Tourism Cooperation for the first time on Aug 4-5, 2023 at Bhurbhan, Murree.
The meeting, being organised by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), will be followed by the technical visit to Islamabad on Aug 6.
It was decided in the second D-8 Ministerial Meeting held in Malaysia in 2019 that Pakistan would host the third D-8 Ministerial Meeting preceded by fourth D-8 Senior Officials meeting. However, the meeting was postponed in 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Awn Chaudhry, adviser to the prime minister on tourism and sports / PTDC chairman, called on the Secretary General of D-8 Secretariat in March 2023 and decided to organise the meeting later this year.
The adviser, while chairing an inter-ministerial meeting here on Monday on the preparation and organisation of the D-8 Ministerial Meeting, said holding of third D-8 Ministerial Meeting at Bhurbhan was aimed at promoting Pakistan’s tourism potential and exploring tourism trade opportunities of the member states.
The meeting could open new avenues of socioeconomic development, he added.
The objective of this meeting is to identify potential pathways (incentives and initiatives) to enhance intra D-8 tourism in line with the objectives and goals of D-8; to bring together tourism experts of member states to strengthen their capacities and develop effective strategies for post COVID-19 tourism era; to provide a platform for member states to exchange knowledge and best practices to facilitate cooperation opportunities and to explore possibilities to promote bilateral tourism among the member states.
The D-8 (Developing Eight) organisation for economic cooperation is an inter-governmental organisation which was established in 1997. It comprises eight developing countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkiye.
