​The Iranian Industry, Mining, and Trade minister has said that through proper planning and implementing the previously signed agreement, the meeting of industry ministers of the Developing Eight Islamic Countries (D8) should culminate in specific results in the economic sphere for the member states.Speaking at a meeting of industry ministers of D8 member countries, Eng. Mohammad Reza Ne’matzadeh said that 14 specialized working groups have been formed to materialize goals of the D8 meeting in the industrial sector. He emphasized the need to offer applicable suggestions by the working groups, adding that setting targets in developing plans will provide a bright outlook of implementing the plans.Eng. Ne’matzadeh went on to say that considering needs and demands of the region and also formation of multilateral protocols, it is necessary that the working groups to prepare comprehensive plans which will serve interests of all member states of the D8 group. The minister of industry, mining, and trade added that some regional organizations, such as ECO, have been successful just in political arena, while have not been successful so much in economic arena. So, the D8 meeting should act successfully in the field of economy.The director of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, for his part, referred to objectives of the D8 meeting, saying that objectives of the meeting aims to forming joint cooperation unions, creating databases for exchanging information and conducting joint R&D activities, making joint investment to facilitate and develop trade, and cooperating in the field of exchanging information, training human resources, and developing skills.Valiollah Afkhami added that the participants in the meeting will collaborate to expand international cooperation through adopting common policies and regulations among the 8 member states with the goal of boosting multilateral ties.Addressing the opening ceremony of the 4th meeting of the industry ministers of D8 member countries, Mohsen Salehinia, said that improving the status of developing countries in the world economy, creating diversity and gaining new opportunities in commercial ties, boosting presence and decision making in the international level, and enhancing economic and social situation in countries are among the main objectives of the D8 group.Referring to the establishment of 12 specialize working groups, he said that 12 working groups in the fields of vehicle, petrochemical, steel, cement, small and medium industries, electronics and ITC, standards, textile, energy, food industries, technology, and machine building have been established. Each working group will define its policies related to each sector and will discuss the policies with representatives of other member states in separate meetings, he noted.The deputy minister of industry, mining, and trade added that in the 3rd meeting of the industry ministers of D8 member countries, 78 projects were ratified to boost cooperation, of which 9 projects were related to the vehicle sector, 6 projects were related to the petrochemical sector, 5 projects were related to the steel sector, 2 projects were related to the cement sector, 10 projects were related to the small and medium industries sector, 4 projects were related to the technology sector, 6 projects were related to the standards sector, 9 projects were related to the textile sector, 14 projects were related to the energy sector, 5 projects were related to the food industries sector, and 5 projects were related to the electronics and ITC sector.Salehinia added that the meeting of the industry ministers of D8 member countries was held at the request of Iran with the aim of boosting industrial ties among the member states. It was decided that all the approvals of the industrial experts meeting to be finalized during the meeting of the industry ministers of the member countries, he said.The deputy minister of industry, mining, and trade pointed out to great potentials of the D8 member countries, which can be discussed during the meeting and reach fruitful results. He expressed the hope that the 4th meeting of the industry ministers of D8 member countries would be fruitful.Addressing the opening ceremony of the meeting, the secretary of the D8 federation in the chamber of commerce and industry, for his part, thanked the ministry of industry, mining, and trade for its efforts and referred to problems of the previous meeting in Dhaka, saying that the expert groups were concerned of  implementing the agreement which had been signed by the governments, the small number of participant ministers, the mechanisms for following up the agreements, the need for reducing the number of working groups and increasing their efficiency, as well as allowing the private sector to participate in the D8 meeting.Meanwhile, Kiumars Foroutani, the director general of the office for machine building and equipment, said Iran has proposed the establishment of a consortium comprised of the member countries to launch industrial and commercial activities. The country is studying the possibility of manufacturing agricultural machinery and preparing an operational plan and establishing multinational companies in order to develop and implement projects in the D8 member countries and in other countries, as well.  Referring to the importance of cooperation between the working groups and revision of the cooperation system and suggestion of approaches to optimize benefiting from experiences of the member states, he expressed the hope that the 4th meeting of the industry ministers of D8 member countries would be fruitful.The secretary general of the D8 organization, Dr. Mousavi, for his part highlighted the constructive cooperation among the member states and emphasized the need for improving relations among the D8 members and removing obstacles to boost trade. He added that three meetings of the industries ministers have been held so far in Tehran, Istanbul, and Dhaka. Meetings of senior experts of industry ministers will be held on three consecutive days, he noted. During the expert meeting, experts from both government and private sectors will submit their approvals over two days of discussion to technical working groups within the framework of reports to the ministerial meeting. Approvals of the ministerial meeting will be registered as official documents of the D8 and will be regarded as obligatory for members.It should be noted that according to trade statistics, the D8 member countries accounted for 4.8 percent of the global trade in 2011. The D8 documents show that the member states are determined to increase their share of trade of the global market to 15 and 20 percent over the course of 10 years. In the same year, exports and imports within the organization were 8 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively.