Egypt is preparing to host the 11th summit of the Organisation of the Eight Developing Countries on Thursday, which will be attended by the leaders of Turkey, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen will attend the summit at the invitation of Egypt.

Preparations for the summit began in Cairo on Tuesday at the level of plenipotentiaries, with foreign ministers meeting on Wednesday to discuss issues to be presented to the summit leaders’ meeting on Thursday, according to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The Group of Eight developing countries (D-8) was established in 1997 in Istanbul, Turkey, with the aim of strengthening economic ties between its members: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday that Iranian President Masoud Bazeshkian would attend the summit.

The Pakistani government also announced that Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif would visit Cairo to attend the summit.