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.
