Appointment of Ku Jaafar as D-8 sec-gen historic, great honour for Malaysia – DPM
ISTANBUL: The appointment of Datuk Ku Jaafar Ku Shaari as the new secretary- general of the D- 8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation ( D- 8) is not only historic but a great honour for Malaysia, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said the selection of Ku Jaafar, who had formerly served as Malaysia’s ambassador to Egypt and Qatar and High Commissioner to Brunei, saw the D- 8 for the first time choose a diplomat with vast experience.
“Obviously they have very high regard for Ku Jaafar not only for his experience but their hopes on Malaysia to together with the other D- 8 members to accelerate growth in its six focus areas,” he told the Malaysian media upon his arrival here Thursday .
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, is here to head the Malaysian delegation at the D- 8 Summit on Friday where he will also deliver the country’s statement.
Ku Jaafar, who will assume his duties as the new secretarygeneral of the D- 8 from Jan 1, 2018 for a four-year term, succeeds Dr Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi who held the post from 2014.
On the summit, Ahmad Zahid, who is representing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak this time, said he would use the opportunity to exchange views and explore ways to further boost the economic standing of the grouping.
He said the six focus areas were industry and small and medium enterprises, agriculture and food security, transport, energy, minerals and tourism.
“At this summit, the D- 8 is expected to come out with two documents namely the Istanbul Declaration which will reflect the commitment of the leaders of the member countries on each agenda and the other on joint efforts under the D- 8 framework and Post-2017 Action Plan,” he said.
Themed “Expanding Opportunities through Cooperation”, the summit marks the 20th anniversary of the D- 8.
Established on June 15, 1997, the D- 8 is an organisation for development cooperation which comprises Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia.
Ahmad Zahid also said that he would raise the plight of the Rohingya at the summit to get the support of the grouping to help the oppressed ethnic minority in Myanmar who have fled in the thousands to neighbouring Bangladesh in the wake of persecution by the Myanmar military. He said Malaysia has been consistent in tackling the Rohingya issue which has been stressed on the global stage including by Najib when he met United States President Donald Trump last month.
Malaysia would continue to pressure Myanmar to take responsibility to tackle the issue of Rohingya refugees as called for by the Secretary- General of the United Nations, he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that he would also share his experience when he visited the Rohingya refugee camp in Kutupalong, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh earlier this week.
As the first senior leader to visit the refugee camp, Ahmad Zahid said the Rohingya issue had to be raised at the summit even though it was an economic forum because “it could not be avoided”.
The special aircraft bringing Ahmad Zahid touched down at the Ataturk International Airport here at 9pm Thursday local time ( 2am Friday Malaysian time). — Bernama