The Council of Ministers of the 10-member state Economic Cooperation Organization held its annual informal meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on 24 September 2008. The Foreign Ministers and representatives of member countries as well as the ECO Secretary General attended. The meeting, held over a working Iftar Dinner, was hosted by the Afghan Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, who is the current chairman of the COM.
The meeting reviewed ECO activities in different areas of cooperation, including follow-up action on the decision of the 17th COM held in Herat, Afghanistan, in October 2007. The Secretary General presented a report, covering ECO priority areas of trade, transport and energy as well as industry, environment and transnational crimes. He also touched on preparations for the upcoming Summit of the ECO leaders scheduled for Pakistan in early 2009. The ongoing cooperation between ECO, the UN and specialized agencies of the UN as well as regional organizations including EU, IDB and SCO was also discussed.
The Ministers noted the progress made in different sectors and agreed to take measures to accelerate it further. They underscored the importance of speedy implementation of trade and transport agreements and stressed that all member states sign and ratify them for maximum regional impact. The operationalization of the ECO Trade and Development Bank and ECO’s reconstruction projects in Afghanistan would be speeded up. Cooperation in the agriculture sector would be given priority in the light of the recommendations of the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture held in Baku earlier this month.
The meeting decided to refer the draft Resolution on Cooperation between the UN and ECO to the Council of Permanent Representatives and ECO Secretariat for further deliberation. It authorized Afghanistan, the Chairman of the COM, to table the final resolution at the current session of the UN General Assembly.
The ECO member states include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, it was expanded to its present membership in 1992. The organization aims at promoting regional integration through increased economic cooperation among the member states, chiefly in trade, transport, industry and agriculture. Leaders of the ECO states meet at Summit level once every two years and at the Foreign Ministers’ level annually. The next ECO Summit would be held in Pakistan early next year. It would be preceded by a meeting of the Council of Ministers.
New York,
24 September 2008.
[Home] [Contact us] [Feedback] [Back]