The 7th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport and Communications was held in Antalya (the Republic of Turkey) on April 17, 2008. It was preceded by the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on April 15-16, 2008. The meeting was attended by the delegations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. The ECO Secretariat’s delegation headed by Secretary General Khurshid Anwar, a delegation of the People’s Republic of China, and the representatives of international/regional organizations and financial institutions including IDB, IRU, UNCTAD, ECO-CCI, ECOTDB and ECOLPAF also attended the meeting.
In his inaugural statement, Mr. Binali Yildirim, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Turkey welcomed the delegations to Antalya. He stressed the significance of the 7th Ministerial Meeting for the promotion of regional cooperation in the field of transport and communication.
The ECO Secretary General emphasized the centrality of transport cooperation to progress in other areas of ECO activities. It was a high priority and good progress had been achieved with several important projects completed during the past two years. The Secretary General touched on important projects pursued by the ECO in the field of transport and communications. He expressed the hope that the initiative to organize a demonstration run of the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul Train would produce positive results.
Earlier the ECO Senior Officials deliberated on wide range of subjects. These include Implementation/evaluation of the Program of Action for ECO Decade of Transport and Communications (1998-2007), the Transit Transport Framework Agreement (TTFA), regional cooperation in the field of railway transport, multimodal transport, establishment of the ECO Logistic Provider Associations’ Federation (ECOLPAF), maritime cooperation in the region, civil aviation, telecommunications and postal cooperation, and cooperation with international organizations.
The Senior Officials Meeting prepared a report for the Ministerial Meeting containing proposals to further intensify cooperation in different areas of transport and communications. The Ministers endorsed the report of the Senior Officials and adopted the Antalya Declaration. In the Declaration, they reiterated, inter alia, their commitment to the ECO’s goals and objectives. They decided to prepare a new Program of Action for development of transport and communications. They welcomed the establishment of sub-committees under the Transit Transport Cooperation Council (TTCC), and appreciated their work for the effective implementation of the TTFA. The Ministers addressed the pending issues of the Istanbul-Almaty Passenger and Container Trains Project. They underlined the need for development of transport infrastructure in the region and welcomed the initiative taken for completion of the railway missing link around Van Lake in Turkey, rehabilitation of Quetta-Taftan in Pakistan, and enhancement of the capacity of Sarakhs Station in Iran.
The 8th ECO Ministerial Meeting on transport and Communications will be held in the Kyrgyz Republic.
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