The assignment of Indonesia as host of the D-8 ministerial meeting was decided at the end of the D-8 Senior Officials` Meeting (SOM) in Tehran on Tuesday night, head of the Statistics Data Center of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), Yulistyo Mudho said in a press release on Wednesday.
Mudho said that the SOM also produced a Tehran Draft Initiative that would be approved by the Ministerial Meeting on Wednesday where KKP Minister Fadel Muhammad led the Indonesian delegation.
He said that in the meeting the D-8 countries were committed to increasing the role of the private sector in the next meeting so that this grouping would take a more concrete step in realizing the meeting results that would be carried out by private businesses.
"The SOM meeting would decide all agenda drafted by the working group before they are taken to the ministerial meeting," he said.
In the SOM meeting, the Indonesian delegation was led by Haryono who is the head of the research and development center of the Agriculture Ministry.
On the occasion Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad also had a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi to ask for Iranian support to the candidacy of Indroyono Susilo of Indonesia for the post of FAO (the UN`s Food and Agriculture Organization) director general.
"If elected as the FAO director general, Indroyono will carry out reform and strive to realize the organization`s goal to free the world from hunger and poverty," Minister Fadel said in a press statement here Wednesday.
Fadel also held a meeting with Iranian Agriculture Minister Sadegh Khalilian to discuss efforts to intensify the bilateral cooperation in the marine and fishery researches in the Indian ocean. He also asked for Minister Khalilian`s support for the FAO director general bid.
At its Thirty-seventh session to be held in Rome from 25 June to 2 July 2011, the Conference of the FAO will appoint the Director-General of FAO for the period January 1,2012 to July 31,2015.
Dr. Soesilo is currently the Secretary/Deputy Senior Minister of the Coordinating Ministry for People`s Welfare of the Republic of Indonesia.
Minister Fadel is in Tehran for the Development-8 (D-8) ministerial meeting being held in Tehran, May 17-18, 2011.
D-8, also known as Developing-8, is an arrangement for development cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
The establishment of D-8 was announced officially through the Istanbul Declaration of Summit of Heads of State/Government on June 15, 1997.
The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states` position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living.
(T.W001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
