D-8 Nations To Create Joint Platform To Combat Natural Disasters

Bangladesh, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Nigeria are looking to create a new collaborative mechanism to combat natural disasters.

The eight nations from different continents around the world, known collectively as the Developing-8 or D-8, aim to bolster their disaster assistance capabilities.

This is in hope to meet the needs of each member in the case of an emergency.

The organization's secretary-general, Isiaka Abdulkadir Imam, disclosed this to the Anadolu Agency (AA).

Expressing condolences on the earthquakes that devasted Turkey and Syria in February, Imam noted that all members have their own relief agencies.

And that the D-8 was trying to create a joint platform.

He added; "Nobody wishes for natural disasters to occur, but when they happen, we should have a collaborative approach.

"This tool could meet aid assistance (needs) of the government of any member state if that sort of thing ever happens again."

According to Imam, the global financial system has recently been going through instability, and D-8 countries are taking measures.

"We're trying to see how we can build our own payment system.

"A new payment card, something akin to Visa or MasterCard, the world's two largest payment networks, can be used in the eight member states."