Statement by H.E. Ambassador Seyed Mojtaba Arastou, 

Secretary General of ECO, at the inaugural session 

       

Excellencies,  

             

          It’s a matter of great pleasure for me to welcome you here in the ECO Secretariat.  

          I am particularly delighted to welcome our guests who have come from abroad, H.E. Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, ESCAP, H.E. Mr. Ong Ken Yong, Secretary General of ASEAN, H.E. Mr. Q.A.M.A. Rahim, Secretary General of SAARC and Dr. Jim Gosselin, Representative of PIF. Your presence here, exhibits your commitment to work together for our global objective of sustainable development.

 

          I wish to thank the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.E. Dr. Seyed Mohammad Hussain Adeli, who is a great supporter of ECO activities for his support and for gracing this occasion with his presence.

 

          I also wish to thank the Permanent Representatives of our Member States who always supported ECO activities and encouraged us to further strengthen our relations with international organizations.

 

          The participation in today’s meeting by the heads of all important Asian regional economic cooperation organizations is a testimony of the trust that these important organizations repose in our abilities to conduct the meeting efficiently and effectively.

 

          Mechanisms like today’s Consultative meeting is very useful for all the sub-regions in Asia and Pacific. It is being initiated by UNESCAP since 1994 and ever since it has held up the momentum. ECO regularly participates in it and today I am proud to host its 8th meeting.

 

          These series of meetings has helped and will bring different Asian regions together. These have helped enabling policy makers see the bigger picture extending from Central Asia to Far East. UNESCAP can do more to bring all of us further together by striking a greater balance between East and West Asia. This is a very important objective of these meetings. We must seize the event and use it for benefit of all our regions.

 

          Our working together should be seen in a larger global context. There has been a sustained focus internationally for bringing together regional organizations in order to support global efforts of cooperation on sustainable development goals. I look forward to working with other four participating organizations and would deliberate in terms of a joint study in this regard. I understand it will bring all of us further near and help in increasing understanding each other. During the course of our deliberations we can discuss and build on this issue.

 

          This regional interaction at the Asian continent level is already witnessing such cooperation expanding to inter-continental level. Initiative of Indonesia and South Africa to hold ‘Afro-Asian Sub Regional Organization Conference’ later this month in Bandung is testimony of the fact that such chain of cooperation is fast developing.

 

          This Afro-Asian Meeting which purports to bring Asia and Africa together requires even greater understanding between ECO and UNESCAP, ASEAN, SAARC and PIF. Our collaboration in the Asian perspective will be very helpful in our dialogue with Africa.

 

          This meeting provides good opportunity to exchange views on topics of common interest,  any progress made in such areas by each organization and what was their obstacles and challenges and experiences. It provides insight, not only on the issues, each of us pursuing, in our own right, but also a glimpse in the working of each of our organization. All these are valuable information from which we can also learn from each others.

 

          Our 8th Consultative Meeting covers various topics of interest to all of us. Capacity building of the Chambers of Commerce & Industry, trade and transport facilitation, combating illegal drug trafficking and drug abuse control, reconstruction of Afghanistan, energy resources in the ECO region and strategies adopted to tackle poverty in different regions are very important topics and need our joint position so a better and fair deal can be negotiated internationally for our developing economies. We will discuss these issues in detail during three days of our deliberations.

 

          Just five days ago our Minister signed a historic agreement on trade in Islamabad. This has opened a new chapter of growth in ECO. As a result of this historic meeting, our Ministers are soon to sign another important investment promotion agreement for the ECO region. I will deliberate more on the issue during our discussions on agenda item 3 when we will be detailing our priorities and activities.

 

          Our ECO region is rich in resources both natural and human. It has enormous potential. Just a decade ago it saw the emergence of six new republics. This region also saw peace returning to one of our Member States: Afghanistan; and commitment by international community for institution building there. The region has a potential of becoming a model of peace and stability. The realization of this potential also offers challenges. These obstacles have to be overcome for the international community to succeed in the region. Founding Member States also have experience and resources to do their part. Our decision making body recently approved an action plan for reconstruction in Afghanistan. There is willingness on the part of new ECO Member States to utilize this international goodwill. So, all the right ingredients are here in the region to make it a model region.

 

          Generally for whole of the ECO region there is a goodwill and desire, internationally, to help our Member States. There are a lot of synergies and complementaries between us and other international and regional organizations. We must build on such synergies for a better world.

 

          Guidance in this regard is provided to us by our successive Council of Ministers Meeting. The ECO Secretariat has been endeavoring to provide ECO greater international visibility as well as help procure technical assistance. I will not go into the details of our relations with over twenty four international organization with which we have relations; rather for this occasion, I will content myself giving a brief resume of our relations with four participating organizations of the meeting.

 

          With UNESCAP, we have a longstanding cooperation. It is involved in several initiatives in the ECO region and in regions, from where, heads of regional organizations are participating in today’s meeting. ESCAP is very important wing of United Nations. It has a very important role to play in Asia and Pacific. It coordinates UN development efforts in Asia and Pacific region. We are at a good level of understanding with it. It is aware of our peculiar situation and we keep it informed. It also submits on behalf of UN Secretary General, an annual report to the General Assembly on status of cooperation between ECO and the United Nations. It coordinates the organization of today’s consultative mechanism. We are thankful to it that it keeps us involved in its program in Central Asia like SPECA; but more can be done. ESCAP can do more to involve regional organizations like us, in Central Asia. We are also committed on our part to work more with ESCAP in ECO region.

 

          Similarly with ASEAN we need to forge closer cooperation. ASEAN is also a very important regional organization. With it we have institutionalized a meeting of Ministers on the sidelines of the plenary session  of United Nations General Assembly. Our 7th ministerial meeting approved a Terms of Reference of a joint study on ECO-ASEAN cooperation. We understand, the first such meeting to carry out the study, will take place on the sidelines of this meeting. I believe ESCAP can also make positive contribution in this study.

 

          We have shared our experiences with SAARC and PIF in our previous consultative meetings and we will convey our experiences of this meeting to our constituting member states.

 

          With these hopes and aspirations, I urge all our guests from UNESCAP, ASEAN, SAARC and PIF to work hand-in-hand with us to obtain all the desired results from the 8th Consultative Meeting and we promise to support your efforts and do all we can to make this meeting a success. This is our desire and this is the desire of all our guests who have come here today to welcome the Executive Heads of regional organizations and to show their support for this meeting’s noble objectives.

 

          Thank you, Excellencies.

 

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