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Egypt used the 11th organisation of eight developing countries summit (D-8) on Thursday to bring its development model to the fore, at a time the region gets ready for post-conflict reconstruction, with massive regional spots suffering tremendous devastation.

Lebanon needs between $20 and $30 billion for the reconstruction of areas destroyed by Israel during its two-month invasion on it, Syria needs a whopping , with curtains preparing to fall down on its revolution-cum-civil war, and the Gaza Strip requires a staggering $80 billion to be rebuilt, but after Israeli tanks depart it and ceases its genocide.

Perhaps these mouth-watering figures were all on the mind of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on that day when he decided to hold the summit in Egypt's new capital, a gigantic megacity, almost the size of the German city of Hamburg, constructed in Egypt's vast desert, around 45 kilometres east of the capital Cairo.

A few days before holding the summit, Sisi told a group of journalists meeting him in the same city that his country was ready to take part in Syria's reconstruction.

When it arrived at the new capital's , a lavishly constructed building with a pyramid-shaped ceiling and its own flowing fountains and artificial lakes, the Egyptian president's car cruised by the lakes which had dozens of guardian lion statutes sitting on their two sides, looking at their blue waters.

The extravagance of the palace grabbed the attention of the leaders and government officials attending the summit, including Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian, who kept looking at the on the walls and the ceiling of the palace.

The same extravagance came at the centre of by some members of the public, who viewed in it a needless spendthrift in a country whose economy keeps struggling and debts getting bigger.

In the aforementioned meeting with the journalists, Sisi said the construction of the new capital had not cost his government a penny, raising questions about where the tens of billions invested in the capital, including in the construction of Africa's tallest skyscraper, and largest mosque and church, came from in a country where around a of the population of 107 is categorised as poor.

At the opening of the summit, Sisi said the new capital was not just an expression of his country's infrastructure advancement, but a reflection of its cultural and civilisational greatness.

Grand hopes

However, this was more than just a parade of Egypt's modern capital or its profuse Republican Palace and infrastructure.

Egypt has hopes to expand its trade and economic relations and partnerships with the member states of the D-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation, which have combined populations of over 1 billion and a gross domestic product that exceeds $5 trillion.

In the first eight months of this year, Egypt's with the member states of the organisation, which include Turkey; Iran; Indonesia, and Pakistan, along with Egypt; Nigeria; Bangladesh, and Malaysia, amounted to $5.9 billion, according to the Egyptian government-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics.

The Egyptian bid to enhance partnerships with the member states of this organisation aligns with an Egyptian policy of relations' diversification, one that seeks to capitalise on changes taking place on the global stage.

The same changes may open the door for the birth of a multipolar world order, especially with China and Russia trying to become counter poles to the US, the global hegemon that keeps resisting attempts to push it off the top.

This policy has so far incentivised Egypt's membership in the BRICS grouping, a rising economic bloc spearheaded by China and Russia as well.

During the one-day D-8 summit, the Egyptian president said his country would ratify the organisation's , which paves the way for the reduction of tariffs for various products among member states.

Egypt, the current president of the summit, also launched a network to bolster cooperation among economic think tanks in the member states of the organisation with the aim of finding effective means for enhancing economic relations between these states.

Noticeable variance

President Pezeshkian was the first Iranian head of state to visit Egypt in 11 years, the last being former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who the Egyptian capital in February 2013.

His visit to Egypt comes in the wake of the downfall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, a consequential event that will likely send its shocks across the region and pave the way for major geopolitical shifts in it.

Among the states participating in the 11th D-8 summit, Egypt, Turkey and Iran were probably the states most concerned with current developments in Syria, with each of the three states having either losses or gains from these developments.

Addressing the summit, President Erdogan said the downfall of the Assad regime "opens a new chapter of hope".

Sisi called, meanwhile, for a conclusive political process in Syria, one that excludes nobody and lays the foundations for national reconciliation.

President Pezeshkian's worn out may have summed up the hardships his country passes through, especially after losing Syria as a sphere of influence.

This loss compounds, observers in Cairo said, follows many other losses, including the defanging of Iran's regional proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the Houthis in Yemen, which were the target of a series of lethal Israeli aerial strikes in the past two days.

While Turkey has emerged as the ultimate winner from the same developments, Egypt is deeply concerned about the destruction of the Syrian army and the Israeli occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.

"This is why the meeting of the Egyptian, Turkish and Iranian leaders on the sidelines of the summit is an important occasion for the three countries to come to terms about these developments," Tarek Fahmi, a professor of political science at Cairo University, told °®Âþµº.

"Egypt has credibility, which means that it can play an effective role in the arrangements that will be made in Syria in the coming period," he added.