ECO Secretary General Bid farewell to the Iranian Minister of Trade

Press Release

H. E. Seyed Mojtaba Arastou, the out going ECO Secretary General upon the end of his tenure met with H. E. Shariatmadari, Minister of Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Mr. Arastou providing a report on the trade cooperation among the Member States, added that this organization accomplished several major projects in cooperation with WTO and ITC on buyer-seller, Textile and Agricultural products, as well as holding the 1^st Business Forum on the sideline of ECO Summit in Istanbul. He referred to the observer status of ECO with WTO, and stressed that ECO is providing information to the Member States not a member to WTO. He said that recently ECO could move forward in trade and development with the cooperation of UNESCAP and other international bodies. The most important of which is the signing of ECOTA that its draft was under consideration since 1997 and finalized by 3 expert group meetings during last year and signed in the 2^nd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Trade in Islamabad. He recognized the document as a key to realize the trade promotion of the region, if properly and soon implemented.

Mr. Shariatmadari attaching great importance to the role of ECO in promoting trade in the region stated the full support of Iran from the ECO activities in this regard. He added that ECOTA would up grade the trade cooperation among the ECO Member States and asked for more active role on the part of ECO Secretariat to follow up the implementation of the document and also establish free zones in the region. He further emphasized that the supervision of the Member States on this issue would ensure the trade promotion of the region. Mr. Shariatmadari said that through providing information on the trade facilities of the Member States and closer cooperation with international organizations, great steps would be taken towards developing trade and investment in the region.       

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