BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22. The Secretary-General
of the Developing-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8),
Ambassador Sohail Mahmood, conducted his first official visit to
Azerbaijan on May 17–20, 2026, to attend the 13th Session of the
World Urban Forum (WUF13) and advance plans for three new regional
hubs in Baku, Trend
reports.
Organized upon the invitation of President Ilham Aliyev, the
high-level visit focused on strengthening economic integration,
aligning sustainable urban planning with renewable energy goals,
and reviewing preparations for the 12th D-8 Summit in Jakarta.
A major outcome of the diplomatic mission was the reinforcement
of progress toward launching three specialized institutional
platforms in the Azerbaijani capital: the D-8 Energy and Climate
Center, the Transport Center, and the Media Excellence Center.
During high-level consultations, Assistant to the President Hikmat
Hajiyev and Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov discussed Azerbaijan’s
expanding strategic role and ongoing institutional reforms to boost
the financial capacity of the D-8 Secretariat.
Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov and Mahmood finalized
operational frameworks for the upcoming Baku-based Energy and
Climate Center ahead of the First Meeting of D-8 Energy Ministers
in Baku on June 1, 2026. Additionally, the Secretary-General
coordinated with Ahmad Ismayilov, Executive Director of the Media
Development Agency, to structure professional exchanges and joint
capacity-building programs through the new Media Excellence
Center.
At the forum, Mahmood proposed a five-pronged cooperation
strategy encompassing digital governance, green infrastructure
investment, and regional designations like the "Sustainable D-8
City of the Year" to incentivize clean energy transitions across
the 1.28-billion-population bloc.
