Eight Islamic developing nations, led by Malaysia and Indonesia, agreed Tuesday to embark on joint ventures to boost food production as they endorsed a 10-year blueprint to expand trade cooperation. In a joint statement, the Developing Eight (D8) summit warned that the current global shortage and skyrocketing prices of food pose a “serious threat” to socio-economic stability. They also urged the international community to take action to tame spiraling oil prices and vowed to collaborate to develop alternative fuels and peaceful uses of nuclear energy – in apparent support for Iran's nuclear program that has been criticized by the West. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the group would promote joint ventures between their companies on projects to produce fertilizer, animal feed and create a seed bank to ease supply constraints in agricultural output. “We want to cooperate in areas of food production. We want to increase food supply,” Abdullah, who chaired the summit, told a news conference. “We have land, plenty of good and fertile land. We can form joint venture companies to invest.” Formed in 1997, the summit brings together Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Nigeria – a market of nearly 1 billion people. The meeting coincides with the Group of Eight (G8) summit under way in northern Japan. The Islamic group also endorsed a 10-year blueprint to raise trade among its members to $517.5 billion by 2018, or 15-20 percent of their combined total estimated trade. The countries' trade with one another is currently around $49 billion, or less than 5 percent of their total trade. The plans include a preferential trade agreement to remove barriers on selected goods and ease visa procedures for their businessmen, Abdullah said.
