كلمة وزير الخارجية والهجرة في الاجتماع ال٢١ لمجلس وزراء خارجية الدول الأعضاء في مجموعة الثمانية (D8) (١٨ ديسمبر ٢٠٢٤)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم    

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Excellencies, dear brothers and sisters, the D8 Ministers;

Ladies and gentlemen;

At the outset, I wish to warmly welcome Your Excellencies to Egypt, and to the 21st Session of the D-8 Council of Ministers as we prepare together for the 11th D-8 Summit. I also wish to express my sincere appreciation to Ambassador Riaz Hamidullah, the Secretary for Regional Organization and Multilateral Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, for his country's relentless efforts to strengthen the work of our organization and foster the spirit of cooperation among us during the Presidency of Bangladesh of the D-8.

I also wish to extend my appreciation to our Commissioners for their tireless efforts in preparation for our meeting today and the D-8 Summit tomorrow, and to H.E. Isiaka Imam, the Secretary General of D-8 and his able team, for the support they have given us to ensure the success of our meetings.

Excellencies,

We meet today amid multiple and interlinked challenges and crises that have disproportionally affected our developing countries. These crises include geopolitical conflicts and tensions, a series of unprecedented and overlapping economic challenges, high levels of debt distress, increasing inflation rates, rising inequality, the adverse impacts of climate change and above all the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

The inhumane Israeli war of aggression against Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories is without a doubt one of the greatest tragedies of our time, resulting in a grave humanitarian crisis of catastrophic magnitude with over 40 thousand Palestinians losing their lives, of whom two thirds are women and children, more than 1.9 million people forcibly displaced, 60 % of homes destroyed and a complete collapse of the infrastructure.

The Israeli aggression did not stop at Palestine. The same oppressor has continued its relentless violation of international law and the basic principles of humanity to attack Lebanon, Syria and other countries in the region. The economic losses and physical damage resulting from the Israeli aggression in Lebanon are estimated at 8.5 billion US dollars, with almost 100,000 housing units partially or fully damaged. It is for this reason that we took the initiative to hold a special session on Palestine and Lebanon during the work of our Summit tomorrow.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Against this backdrop, and in light of these challenges and crises, we must further enhance and strengthen our cooperation in all sectors. In conjunction, we have to exert all efforts to discover new areas and avenues of collaboration, with a view to realize the aspirations of our people, achieve sustainable development and eradicate poverty, while also preparing for other emerging challenges. It is in this context that I wish to highlight the following:

First: We have envisioned that the D-8 summit shall take place under the theme: “Investing in Youth and Strengthening SMEs: Shaping Tomorrow’s Economy”. We firmly believe that investing in our youth is a direct a investment in our future. We need to equip youth with the necessary tools, build their capacities and knowledge, as well as support and nurture youth entrepreneurship. In this regard, we should work together to ensure that our youth can embrace new tools and trends, especially emerging technologies and innovation, such as artificial intelligence.

Second: Egypt is committed to further deepen our cooperation in all fields. We look forward to hosting the first D-8 Ministerial Meeting on health, to discover new avenues of cooperation and explore the various technological advancements in this critical sector. In the same vein, we will also host the fourth D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Tourism, as well as the D-8 Ministerial meeting on Trade. I take this opportunity to share that Egypt will ratify the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement in the upcoming weeks, as we firmly believe in the utmost necessity of promoting trade and developing a clear roadmap to encourage investments among our countries, taking into consideration the plentiful comparative advantages that we have as a group.

Third: Strengthening our academic and training cooperation is needed now more than ever. We propose establishing a “Network for Institutes of Diplomatic Studies” among the D8 Member States to foster cooperation and exchange expertise, while educating our next generation of Diplomats about new trends and tools. Similarly, Egypt will launch the “Network for Economic Think Tanks” to serve as a platform for sharing expertise, best practices and prepare joint studies to assist us in achieving our common economic and developmental efforts.

Fourth: As we meet today, the financing gap to achieve the sustainable development goals stands at 4 trillion dollars annually, while the needs of developing countries to implement their nationally determined contributions are in the range of 5.8 trillion dollars up to 2030. We need to expedite our efforts together, as members of D-8, at different multilateral fora and meetings, to ensure that the necessary means of implementation, including concessional finance, is provided to our countries.

Excellencies,

I am confident that our deliberations today, and our Leaders’ deliberations tomorrow, will lead to concrete steps to deepen and strengthen our cooperation at all levels and in all sectors, while we aim together to achieve the development of our countries and realize the legitimate aspirations of our people. I wish you all fruitful and successful discussions that pave the way for a brighter future together.

I Thank you.