Rising Bengal Dhaka Bureau: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday (April 8) concluded the D-8 Summit, stressing on working together for a better future and common goals of achieving peace and prosperity for the people and the next generation Bangladesh Prime Minister said, "The world is passing through a critical time.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused havoc in the global economy It is now more important than ever to work together to build a better future " The Bangladesh Prime Minister said this in her closing remarks at the virtual D-8 Summit here on Thursday (April 8).

Bangladesh is hosting and chairing the summit at a time when the country is celebrating the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered the opening remarks as the current chairperson of D-8 and then handed over the D-8 chairmanship to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Bangladesh will serve as the chairperson of D-8 for the next two years as the host country of the summit Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "We have heard about various initiatives of D-8 for about three hours, bringing broad issues like technology, agriculture, business, health and education into the discussion.

I believe that with our support and encouragement, D-8 will prosper in the days to come and we will be able to achieve more ".

He said, "Let us transform the D-8 into a more dynamic, more visionary, more aspirational group Let us take the D-8 to new heights, work for closer economic and social ties Let us work together to achieve our common goal of achieving peace and prosperity for our people " In my opening remarks, Sheikh Hasina said, ".

I mentioned that the D-8 is now ready to deliver on its economic development goals through synergy I am happy to note that all prominent Heads of State and Government share the same view This common position will help us meet the organization's ambitions as a whole " She said, ".

Right now, I feel hopeful and confident hearing your statements and suggestions that by working together, we can create a better tomorrow for the billion plus people of the D-8 member countries ".

The Prime Minister said that the last four days have truly inspired all of us As we, our Ministers and Commissioners discussed, new ideas were generated, discussed and adopted on the theme of this year's D-8 :'Partnership for a Transformative World: Leveraging the Power of Youth and Technology ' She said that the conference encouraged new solutions.

New ways have also been explored to transform society and the economy, making the best use of the demographic dividend and the Fourth Industrial Revolution This is the first time we are hosting a youth conference Let us take advantage of the demographic dividend we are enjoying now as a group, said the Prime Minister.

We sincerely hope that the private sectors of our country will have more productive, mutually beneficial interactions and collaborations Sheikh Hasina said, I take this opportunity to once again congratulate the outgoing Secretary-General Dato'Koo Zafar Koo Shari for his contribution in taking this organization forward during his tenure The Secretariat has led by him in serving its member countries, and I wish him all the best in his next assignment as the next Secretary-General.

Foreign Minister Gediofor Kwusike Onyeama addressed the conference on behalf of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Malaysian Prime Minister Tarah Muhyiddin Yassin, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari Two documents were adopted at the virtual summit, one being the Dhaka Declaration and the other being the Decennial Roadmap for 2020 to 2030.

Yasika Abdul Qadir Imam took over as the new secretary general at the conference, with Zahid Ahsan Russel, the state minister for youth and sports of Bangladesh, and Sheikh Fazle Fahim, the president of FBCCI, as special guests.