Prabowo unsatisfied with Muslim market utilization at D-8

Cairo, Egypt (ANTARA) - President Prabowo Subianto expressed dissatisfaction over the limited market and economic cooperation between Indonesia and the D-8 member countries dominated by Muslim populations.

During a meeting with hundreds of Al-Azhar students from Indonesia, the president outlined that his Cairo visit aimed to respond to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's state invitation and attend the D-8 Summit on Thursday.

"The D-8 members are countries with large populations. Maybe all of these countries have populations above 100 million. The D-8 was formed to carry out cooperation," the president noted in his speech at the Al-Azhar Conference Center Building, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, on Wednesday.

According to Prabowo, the forum was formed to establish economic cooperation with eight developing countries comprising Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, and Egypt as the chairman for this year.

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He highlighted that all D-8 countries have a relatively large Muslim population, with more than 100 million Muslims in each country.

Hence, he stated that the D-8 member countries have a market of more than one billion people.

"We must admit that we are still unsatisfied. We need a lot of improvement, and we should establish more cooperation," Prabowo remarked.

On the occasion, the head of state also noted that the D-8 Chairmanship in 2025 will shift from Egypt to Indonesia.

Hence, at the D-8 Summit on Thursday, he will receive the baton of the forum's chairmanship for 2026-2027.

"Hopefully, we can give the best during our chairmanship," he affirmed.

On Wednesday, Prabowo also held a meeting with President El-Sisi, during which the two agreed to promote the values of moderate Islam as a joint endeavor to counter extremism and Islamophobia across the world.

The two leaders were also keen to strengthen collaboration in other strategic fields, such as trade and industry, technology, education, tourism, and defense.