Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto will travel to Egypt for an upcoming summit between members of the Developing-8 or D-8 later this week, according to a senior diplomat.

The D-8 is an economic cooperation that brings together eight developing countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkiye. All members are also part of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The D-8 leaders are set to gather in Cairo for the 11th summit on Thursday. Prior to the leaders’ summit, the group will start the week with commission and ministerial council talks.

“President Prabowo is scheduled to attend the D-8 Summit in Cairo. … It is such an important occasion for us … because Egypt will hand over the group’s presidency to Indonesia. Our chairmanship will start in 2026, and last until 2027,” Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesman Roy Soemirat told reporters in Jakarta on Monday.

The D-8 will serve as another platform for Indonesia to push for the interests of the "Global South", a term commonly referring to developing nations. Roy added: "Hopefully, we can contribute to the developing economic cooperation between Global South nations, but at the same time, the [D-8] group should not forget about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

The Cairo summit will tackle the theme of investing in youth as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs). “[The theme] aligns with Prabowo’s priorities in international economic cooperation,” Roy said.

According to media reports, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is set to attend the Cairo summit.

About 57 days have passed since Prabowo officially rose to power. The former army general spent a great deal of time meeting fellow world leaders. Just last month, Prabowo went on his first-ever foreign trip that lasted for about two weeks.

In 2021, Former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo attended the 10th D-8 Summit, which had to take place online due to Covid-19 pandemic. Jokowi told the group at the time that the D-8 members should take advantage of the digital economy to drive recovery.

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