ECO SG Mr. Askhat Orazbay Calls on Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Foreign Minister of Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan

PRESS RELEASE

            In this meeting which was held on the sidelines of the Trade and Investment Conference in Afghanistan, ECO Secretary General appreciated the support of the Government of Afghanistan regarding his candidature as the new ECO Secretary General. He briefed the Afghan Foreign Minister on the different agenda items of the meetings held in Kabul and furthermore emphasized on holding such important meetings in Kabul. He also requested that Afghanistan would take part at the highest level in these meetings. ECO Secretary General referred to the upcoming ECO Summit and COM meetings due to be held in Dushambe (Tajikistan) on 12-14 September 2004 and formally invited the Afghan Foreign Minister to attend the 8^th Summit and 14^th COM.

            Dr. Abdullah, while welcoming the ECO Secretary General congratulated him as the new Secretary General, appointed from one of the non-founding members of the Organization, Kazakhstan. He also attached the great importance to the meetings held in Kabul and referred to the mutual interest of Afghanistan and ECO in this regard. He further stated with the new situation in Afghanistan, the country would welcome any foreign investment. In this respect he referred to the agreement signed between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. Dr. Abdullah said that having the new Kazakh Secretary General at office would invite all the non-founding member states to participate more actively in the framework of this Organization. He also said that Afghanistan appreciates the initiative of ECO to hold such meetings in Kabul.

Regarding the upcoming Summit and COM, he said that the Afghan Government would, for sure, attend in these two major meetings of the Organization at the highest level possible, if it doesn’t coincide with the upcoming elections in Afghanistan, the exact date of which should be fixed by the independent commission.

            ECO Secretary General in return referred to the meeting sponsored by UNDP due to be held in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) on 10-12 of May 2004 with the participation of ECO member states and asked for considering this meeting as the continuation of the meetings held in Kabul. He also stated that there are two major projects at hand to be implemented through the Feasibility Study Fund one in Nangarhar and the other in Logar Provinces.

            Mr. Orazbay invited the Afghan Government to ratify TTFA which has already been signed by five member states. In this regard, Dr. Abdullah informed the Secretary General that the matter will be brought up to the attention of the Afghan Cabinet to expedite the ratification of this major document of ECO.

In the conclusion Mr. Orazbay expressed hope that Afghanistan would take more active part in the ECO activities.

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