The 3rd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Finance and Economy, preceded by Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) was held on 21-23 December, 2008 in Tehran. It was attended by the Ministers and Representatives of all the ten Member States. The Secretary General of ECO and the President of the ECOTDB also attended the meeting.
The meeting was inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. H.E. Dr. Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini, Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, delivered the welcome address. The President of the ECOTDB and the Secretary General of ECO also made brief statements.
H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad mentioned the commonalities that bound the ECO family together and the objectives they shared and pursued jointly. He spoke of the Member States’ potential for cooperation and for expanding it further in the technological, scientific, and engineering fields. The President referred to developments on the international financial scene and observed that, with closer understanding and cooperation, the challenges could be overcome and regional prosperity be increased meaningfully. He suggested diversion of financial transactions from dollar to other more reliable currencies, for dependence on dollar had proved detrimental to the interests of the developing countries. The President proposed the establishment of a Working Group to study the current global financial crisis and suggest solutions to Member States.
The meeting made important decisions, including the following:
Establishment of a Working Group to study the Global Financial Crisis, its implications for the Member States’ economies and make appropriate recommendations.
More active cooperation in key areas of the economy, in finance, trade and investment, customs and visa facilitation as well as the fight against corruption and money laundering.
Expeditious implementation of ECOTA and increased cooperation among Stock and Commodity Exchange Organizations.
Setting up joint ventures in each others’ countries.
Expediting signing/ratification of the agreements on promotion of investment, customs cooperation and visa facilitation.
Welcomed the interest shown by Afghanistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in joining the ECO Trade Development Bank and encouraged other Member States to join.
Stressed early establishment and operationalization of the ECO Reinsurance Company.
Agreed measures to intensify against Corruption and Money Laundering.
Underlined the need for strong cooperation among Private Sectors of the Member States and called on Central Asian member states to spearhead it.
Encouraged opening of bank branches in each other countries.
Supported increased cooperation in Taxation, capacity-building and avoidance of double taxation.
Declared Tajikistan as the Coordinating Country on ECO initiatives concerning investment and requested it to host the 4th ECO Investment Conference during August 2009.
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