29 February 2004	Sunday	08 Muharram 1425

ISLAMABAD, Feb 28: The leaders of the D-8, a group of eight developing Islamic nations, have agreed to initiate dialogue on signing a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) among the member countries to address the challenges of globalization and to increase the current flow of trade.

Official sources in the Commerce Ministry told Dawn on Saturday that the decision was taken during a recent meeting of the leadership from D-8 countries - Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey - held in Tehran.

The D-8 perceives itself as a collective front of developing Islamic nations working together to face globalization challenges.

According to the officials, the signing of PTA would finally lead towards free trade agreement (FTA) among the D-8 countries to increase the share of D-8 countries in the world economy.

Following the signing of PTA, the tariff among the D-8 countries would come down to 10 per cent within a period of five years, the officials said.

According to the officials, the first meeting of senior officials of the D-8 countries was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in June 2004 to discuss the draft PTA agreement.