D8 summit begins

The third summit meeting of a group of eight developing Muslim countries -- known as D-8 -- has begun in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Among those attending are the presidents of Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey as well as the Pakistani leader General Musharraf and the Bangladeshi Prime Minister.

The meeting will be discussing the challenges of globalisation.

D-8 foreign ministers had earlier expressed concern over what they say is the inability of developing countries to fully share the benefits of globalisation.

The meeting is also expected to approve plans for a special marketing company to promote trading links between member countries. The member countries -- Egypt, Nigeria, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Malaysia -- have a combined population of around eight-hundred-million, but only four percent of the world market.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service