Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday said that the Muslim countries could introduce a common currency, like the European Union (EU), to boost trade and commerce among them. “It would be very good, if we, the Muslim countries, can introduce a common currency like EURO to facilitate trade and commerce among us,” she said. The Bangladesh PM said this while a delegation of D-8 trade ministers led by Turkish Deputy Minister of Trade Mustafa Tizcu called on her at her official residence Ganabhaban in Dhaka. The Prime Minister's Speech writer M Nazrul Islam briefed the reporters after the call on. The D-8 is an Organization for Economic Cooperation among the eight Muslim countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
Sheikh Hasina said that the D-8 was formed with the eight mostly populated Muslim countries of the world aiming to enhance the trade and commerce among them side by side improving friendship to develop the socioeconomic status of the people of these countries, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
The Premier said that the D-8 should work together like a family in trade and commerce as well as provide technical assistance to each other for improving their own fate. The main agenda of the meeting was to implement a preferential trade agreement (PTA) among the D-8 member countries and expand its areas of effectiveness, reports BSS.