Eight Countries to Join the Digital Cooperation Organization in Landmark Expansion

Digital Cooperation Organization confirms eight candidate countries, paving the way for a billion-strong voice for digital cooperation 

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 28 August 2026 – The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO), the world’s first standalone international organization dedicated to accelerating the inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy, today announced that the DCO Council has approved the candidature of eight new countries to join the organization as Member States, which would potentially expand DCO membership from 16 to 24 countries, representing approximately 980 million people.

The eight confirmed candidate countries are the Republic of Albania, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Republic of Kenya, the Lebanese Republic, the State of Palestine, the Syrian Arab Republic, and the Republic of Zambia.

In addition, DCO is set to welcome the Republic of Tajikistan as an Associate Member, opening new opportunities for Tajikistan to strengthen digital cooperation, access public-private partnerships, and collaborate on initiatives advancing digital innovation, skills, and inclusion, in line with its National Development Strategy through 2030.

“When the DCO was launched by five countries in 2020, a standalone organization built around the digital economy outside the traditional blocs, it was an untested proposition. The news today of our expansion, makes it a proven fact,” said Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO.

“Countries are joining for a practical reason; the rules of the digital economy on data, artificial intelligence, and cross-border trade are being written now, and rules written without you are rules you inherit rather than shape.”

“These prospective accessions are how that changes: not by asking for better terms, but by building the capacity to set them together. That is what digital sovereignty looks like in practice; a membership large enough to negotiate its people’s future.”

“The next stage is scale. Five years of policy, platforms and partnerships could soon have twenty-four countries behind them, and that is what turns alignment into infrastructure, investment, and rules that hold and shape our collective future.”

The growth reflects increasing international confidence in the DCO’s vision and reinforces its role as the leading platform for international digital cooperation. The accessions would expand DCO’s represented population, meaning approximately 12 percent of the global population would proactively participate in shaping the rules of the digital economy through the organization.

The news marks a significant geographic broadening of the organization’s footprint. For the first time, DCO extends into Central Asia – opening a new regional axis for digital cooperation across one of the world’s most strategically important corridors. Simultaneously, the organization reaches into the Caucasus and the Western Balkans, regions not previously represented by the DCO but home to some of the fastest-evolving digital economies in the Eurasian space.

The DCO Council’s approval of candidature marks the start of the formal accession process. Each candidate country’s membership will take effect upon completion of its respective national internal accession procedures and the deposit of its instrument of accession, in accordance with the Organization’s founding documents.

As DCO continues implementing its strategic 4-Year Agenda 2025-2028 across flagship initiatives and programs including digital policy development, digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence governance, digital skills, startup ecosystems, cross-border data flows, and digital economy measurement, the Organization remains committed to supporting countries to transform digital ambition into measurable outcomes through fostering stronger partnerships between governments, the private sector, international organizations, academia, and civil society.

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