{"id":63177,"date":"2026-05-22T12:51:55","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/?p=63177"},"modified":"2026-05-22T12:51:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:51:55","slug":"ambassador-sohail-mahmoods-azerbaijan-visit-strengthens-d-8-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/2026\/05\/22\/ambassador-sohail-mahmoods-azerbaijan-visit-strengthens-d-8-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambassador Sohail Mahmood’s Azerbaijan Visit Strengthens D-8 Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spokesman Report<\/p>\n

Baku: Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Secretary-General of the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8), undertook his inaugural official visit to Azerbaijan from May 17-20, 2026, at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev, to attend the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku. His delegation included Ambassador Mustafa \u00d6zcan and Mr. Muhammad Bilal Khan. WUF13, co-organized by the Government of Azerbaijan and UN-Habitat under the theme \u201cHousing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities,\u201d saw over 40,000 participants and underscored Azerbaijan’s growing global role as a host for international dialogues on climate action, sustainable development, and urban transformation, following its successful hosting of COP29 in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\" On the sidelines of WUF13, the Secretary-General participated in the D-8 High-Level Energy and Urban Dialogue, themed \u201cPowering Sustainable Cities in the D-8 Region: Aligning Energy Transitions with Urban Development Agendas.\u201d This dialogue examined the critical links between sustainable urbanization, renewable energy, climate resilience, and smart infrastructure, convening ministers, mayors, and experts from D-8 member states. In his address, Ambassador Mahmood emphasized that urbanization and energy transition must be integrated policy priorities, given cities’ significant contribution to global GDP, energy consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions. He highlighted the D-8 countries’ substantial renewable energy potential, young populations, and strategic locations as key assets for shaping sustainable urban futures. He stressed the need for increased access to concessional finance, technology transfer, and equitable partnerships to bridge the financing gap for climate-smart urban infrastructure in developing nations, advocating for a people-centered just transition that prioritizes youth, low-income communities, green jobs, and inclusive service delivery.<\/p>\n

\"\"The Secretary-General proposed a five-point plan for practical cooperation: integrated urban energy planning, enhanced digital governance, increased South-South cooperation, investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, and stronger common positioning of D-8 states on international platforms. He also suggested initiatives like designating a “Sustainable D-8 City of the Year” to foster innovation and recognize leadership in sustainable urban development. A significant outcome of the visit was the reinforcement of progress on establishing three D-8 Centers of Excellence in Baku: Energy and Climate, Transport, and Media. These centers aim to bolster South-South cooperation, policy dialogue, research, innovation, and capacity-building across D-8 member states in critical areas. During his visit, Secretary-General Mahmood held high-level meetings with senior Azerbaijani government officials. Discussions with H.E. Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President and Head of Foreign Policy Affairs, focused on Azerbaijan’s expanding role in the D-8 and the organization’s future strategic direction. Meetings with H.E. Jeyhun Bayramov, the Foreign Minister, covered D-8-Azerbaijan cooperation, the organization’s reform process, preparations for the 12th D-8 Summit in Jakarta, Azerbaijan’s accession momentum, and its commitment to D-8 legal instruments. Discussions with H.E. Parviz Shahbazov, Minister of Energy, centered on operationalizing the D-8 Energy and Climate Center in Baku, preparations for the First Meeting of D-8 Energy Ministers in Baku on June 1, 2026, and enhancing cooperation in energy security, renewable energy investment, and green transition initiatives. A meeting with Mr. Ahmad Ismayilov, Executive Director of the Media Development Agency, focused on operationalizing the Media Excellence Center and strengthening media cooperation among D-8 states through professional exchanges and joint programs. The visit underscored Azerbaijan’s strong commitment to its D-8 membership and its significant contributions to the organization’s processes. The D-8 High-Level Energy and Urban Dialogue at WUF provided a platform to share D-8 perspectives on sustainable development and outline a forward-looking framework for tangible outcomes across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spokesman Report Baku: Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, Secretary-General of the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8), undertook his inaugural official visit to Azerbaijan from May 17-20, 2026, at the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev, to attend the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku. His delegation included Ambassador Mustafa \u00d6zcan and Mr. Muhammad Bilal Khan. WUF13, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[901,902],"class_list":["post-63177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international","tag-ambassador-sohail-mahmoods-azerbaijan-visit-strengthens-d-8-cooperation","tag-d-8-cooperation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63177"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63182,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63177\/revisions\/63182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyspokesman.net\/live\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}