JAKARTA - Indonesia formally assumes the chair of the Developing-8 (D-8) economic bloc on January 1, leading the group through 2027. 

The handover comes at the organization's 12th summit scheduled for Jakarta in April 2026, marking the first time Indonesia has hosted the gathering since the group formed in 1997. Jakarta inherits the chair from Egypt and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at a moment when developing nations have more alternatives to traditional Western markets.

Tri Tharyat, director for multilateral cooperation at Indonesia’s foreign ministry, said the chairmanship gives developing countries more room to negotiate together. At a December briefing, he said Indonesia sees the role as a way to focus on economic diplomacy and work more closely with other Global South nations as global politics grow more tense.

According to official data from Indonesia's foreign ministry, the nine member states (Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey) represent 1.3 billion people and generate $5.1 trillion in combined GDP. 

Their mutual trade runs around $157 billion annually. International projections suggest these countries will rank among the world's major economic powers by 2050, though such forecasts carry obvious uncertainty.

Indonesia plans to hold a special session on Palestine alongside the summit, as well as a business forum and a halal expo. Officials say they want the summit to produce a declaration that sets out concrete economic cooperation among the countries, instead of another largely symbolic outcome.

Experts argue that the world is moving away from a U.S.-led order toward a more divided system where middle powers, including the Global South, play a bigger role. Former Indonesian ambassador for the US, Dino Patti Djalal, has previously warned that Indonesia needs to help shape these changes instead of just reacting to them.