the 2nd Meeting of the Heads of

Privatization Administrations of ECO Member States

(Islamabad, 12 April 2007)

 

  1. The 2nd Meeting of the Heads of Privatization Administration of the ECO Member States was held in the Islamabad on April 12, 2007. Delegates from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as well as representatives from ECO Secretariat participated in the Meeting.

 

  1. The Meeting was inaugurated by H.E. Arif Mansur, Secretary, Privatization Commission, Government of Pakistan. He noted that economic liberalization and privatization were among the important objectives of ECO. The Privatization had been a major change agent in the restructuring of many countries and had resulted in the development of a highly specialized field of knowledge.

 

  1. In his inaugural statement Mr. Mustafa Demirezen Deputy Secretary General of ECO pointed out that a balanced way between costs and benefits of privatization should be formed. Revenues generated from privatization should be used in an effective and efficient manner so that they contribute to GDP growth and increase in the welfare of the citizens of ECO member states.

 

  1. The Meeting reviewed implementation of the Plan of Action on Privatization and endorsed the Report of the 1st ECO HLEG Meeting on Privatization. The following decisions were taken:

 

a)   The Meeting stressed the emerging importance of Private-Public Partnership (PPP) models in member countries and decided to extend cooperation among the member states to the field of PPP, which constitutes an integral part of privatization.

 

b)   The Meeting decided that the topic of PPP could be one of the agenda items for the future ECO HLEG meetings.

 

c)   The Meeting decided that the Working Group, which was established by the 1st ECO HLEG Meeting on Privatization on April 10-11, 2007, in Islamabad, also devise a strategy for cross-country investment and for inviting tender/ public notices of privatization from fellow ECO member states.

 

d)   The Meeting decided to establish a Task Force , comprising the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Turkey, the ECO Secretariat as well as any other volunteer member states to study how to develop cooperation among the stock exchanges of member states. The task Force would meet in Tehran in October 2007 and be hosted by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 

  1. The Republic of Turkey that declared its readiness for hosting the 2nd ECO Meeting of High Level Experts Group (HLEG) on Privatization would also host the 3rd ECO Meeting of Heads of Privatization Administration in first half of 2008.