ISLAMABAD: For the first time, Pakistan will host the 3rd D-8 Ministerial Meeting and the 4th D-8 Senior Officials Meeting on Tourism Cooperation on August 4 and 5 in Bhurbhan, Murree.
The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) hosting the meeting will be followed by a technical tour to the Federal Capital on August 6.
The decision to hold the third D-8 Ministerial Meeting in Pakistan, followed by the fourth D-8 Senior Officials Meeting, was made at the second D-8 Ministerial Meeting, which took place in Malaysia in 2019. However, the Covid-19 epidemic forced the postponement of the summit in 2021.
In a March meeting with the Secretary General of the D-8 Secretariat, Awn Chaudhry, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Tourism & Sports and Chairman of the PTDC, resolved to host the summit later this year.
Pakistan’s Tourism Potential
While presiding over an inter-ministerial meeting on its planning and organization on Monday, the advisor stated that the D-8 Ministerial Meeting was intended to promote Pakistan’s tourism potential and examine commercial opportunities among the member states. He noted that the summit could also open up new opportunities for socioeconomic development.
The purpose of this gathering is to identify potential avenues (incentives and initiatives) for enhancing intra-D-8 tourism following the goals and objectives of D-8, to bring together tourism experts of member states to provide a forum for member states to exchange knowledge and best practices to facilitate cooperation opportunities, to boost their capacities and develop efficient strategies for the post-COVID-19 tourism era, and to explore possibilities to promote intra-D-8 tourism.
The D-8 (Developing Eight) Organization is an inter-governmental organization established in 1997 for economic cooperation. It comprises eight developing countries, including Turkiye, Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, and Malaysia.
