Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati took part in the opening session of the 11th Summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) in Cairo on Thursday.
In his speech at the opening session, Mikati stressed the need for D-8 member states to “focus on action” in order to work for “the public good.”
Mikati arrived in Egypt on Thursday for an official visit, at the special invitation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, to take part in the work of the summit, which will include a special session on Palestine and Lebanon.
The D-8 states — Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey — are also expected to discuss ways of strengthening economic cooperation between them.
Mikati affirmed Lebanon's commitment to collaborating with the organization in order to work for “the interest of our people.”
The Lebanese delegation present at the conference includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, the Minister of Public Works, Ali Hamiyeh, the Minister of the Environment, Nasser Yassine, as well as the Lebanese Ambassador to Cairo and to the Arab League, Ali Halabi.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to take part in the special session on Gaza and Lebanon. The summit will also see Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezechkian meet for the first time since the ousting of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Pezechkian, who arrived in Cairo on Wednesday, is the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2013.
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