(VOVworld) –Leaders of eight Muslim developing countries, known as the D-8 group, convened a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday to discuss the enhancement of trade volume through implementing its Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

Federal Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan with the ambassadors of D-8 countries.  (Photo: APP)

Trade ministers agreed to operationalize their PTA from first of July this year, boosting intra trade from the existing 120.5 billion USD to 500 billion USD by the end of 2018.

In the Islamabad Declaration, customs agencies of the member states are tasked to meet in three months to prepare for implementation of D-8 PTA Rules of Origin.

The Supervisory Committee is assigned to finalize the Dispute Settlement document in its special session in Istanbul, Turkey.

D-8 Secretary General Ali Mohammad Mousavi described understanding on implementation of PTA as an important step forward to promote D-8 intra-trade. The next Trade Ministers’ Council meeting will be held in Malaysia next year.

The D-8 group includes Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey. All except Bangladesh and Egypt have already ratified the PTA and will implement it this July.