The ECO Business Forum held in Istanbul

Press Release

            H.E. Seyed Mojtaba Arastou, ECO Secretary General, addressing the ECO Business Forum expressed his profound appreciation to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the International Trade Center (ITC) for their continued cooperation with ECO in achievement of its goals in the field of trade and investment.

            He further stated that, this Forum which is organized within the framework of joint ECO/ITC project on expanding intra-regional trade will focus on seeking ways and means of identifying and analyzing the existing obstacles on the way of trade expansion among the Member States.  He also thanked Istanbul Chamber of Commerce for its cooperation in this regard.  Mr. Arastou emphasized that development of a strong and dynamic private sector as well as international trade performance would expedite the economic growth of the ECO region.  Mr. Arastou added that privatization programs cannot be funded from the domestic sources alone, and a pressing challenge for the region is the need to regain the confidence of investors and lenders, foreign as well as domestic.

            ECO Secretary General mentioned that lack of information about business opportunities in the region is a major impediment in expanding intra-regional trade and in promoting inflow of foreign direct investment to the capital starved markets of the ECO Member States. 

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