H. E. Seyed Mojtaba Arastou, ECO Secretary General, met with Dr. Kamal Kharazi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, on the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of expansion of ECO.

            Mr. Arastou in this meeting congratulating the occasion, stated that this anniversary is so important to all ECO Members and appreciated the full support of H. E. President Khatami and Dr. Kharazi, for the efforts made by the ECO Secretary General and Secretariat. Briefing on the ongoing activities in the six priority areas of the Organization, added that now it’s been ten years that the Organization is working with ten Member States, and the proper and just evaluation of the activity of the Organization shows that ECO in comparison with the other similar organizations, has passed a successful decade and faces a bright future ahead.

            ECO Secretary General referred to the main achievements in different areas, such as: Preparation of the draft Regional Trade Agreement, that is going to be considered in the 5^th High Level Expert Group Meeting on the subject, in Tehran, on February 2003 to be finalized and forwarded to the 2^nd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Trade, due to be held on June 2003; Operation of the cargo train on Almaty-Tashkent-Tehran-Istanbul route; test Operation of the passenger train on Almaty-Tashkent-Turkmenabad-Istanbul route; Approval of the plan of action for the decade of transportation and telecommunication; signing MOU with more than 18 important International Organizations, establishment of ECO Fund and committee on reconstruction of Afghanistan at the ECO Secretariat; implementation of tens of plan of action and agreement. He also hoped that the successful 7^th Summit and 12^th COM meetings in Istanbul-Turkey, be a turning point for the second decade of activity of the Organization. He recognized the second decade as the decade for implementation of the cooperation documents and agreements and added that a committee for this purpose is established at the Secretariat.

            Mr. Arastou referred to the upcoming Ministerial Meetings on Environment and Energy, on December 2002 and January 2003 in Tehran and named them as great events to start the second decade of activity of the Organization.

            He also referred the fruitful relationship with international organizations and said that after ten years now we may say that ECO is recognized as a regional international organization in the international community. Mr. Arastou mentioned the issue of world economic development and stated that there is a great competition among the regional organizations to promote regional cooperation. He also said that by the full support made by the Heads of States and Foreign Ministers in Istanbul, now I am sure that ECO would gain more specially in the Trade and Transportation fields. Surely the 21^st century would see the development of the resourceful, civilized nations of the ECO region.

            Dr. Kharazi, congratulating the event, attached great importance to the position of the ECO in the foreign policy of Iran and hoped that the second decade the organization gain more in regional cooperation, since reinforcement of such cooperation would led to peace and stability in the region as well.

            He also stated that all the ECO Member States should take advantage of all opportunities in order to gain the economic development they deserve. He also hoped that ECO Member Countries would give priority to the reconstruction of Afghanistan, especially in infrastructural plans and transportation and communications.

            Dr. Kharazi, appreciated the efforts of the Secretariat and reiterated that Iran fully supports the Organization and Secretary General in their activities. He further added that cooperation with other international organizations would add to the importance and efficiency of the Organization.

            So far, Presidents of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Pakistan, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, and Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, through separate messages congratulated ECO Secretary General on the occasion and supported the Organization.