On the invitation of the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), H.E. Mr. Mohammed Yahya Maroofi, the ECO Secretary General visited Dushanbe, Tajikistan on May 18-20, 2010 to participate in the 37th session of the OIC-Council of Foreign Ministers.
During the visit, the Secretary General called on H.E. Emomalii Rahmon, the President of the Republic of Tajikistan. During the meeting, both sides discussed matters related to ECO. The Secretary General apprised the President on the progress made by ECO in such fields as trade, transport agriculture, drug control etc. He also briefed about the upcoming ECO Truck Caravan which would be launched on 14th August, 2010 from Islamabad, Pakistan. The Secretary General while appreciating Tajikistan’s role in fostering regional integration and cooperation, expressed his desire to work more closely with Tajikistan in future.
The President of Tajikistan while appreciating Secretariat’s efforts in actively pursuing the projects and programmes of ECO, underlined the need to further build on the common strengths of the region and to enhance cooperation for the benefit of the region. He stressed the importance of establishing efficient transit/transport linkages to bring the region closer. He also underscored the importance of enhancing cooperation in the area of drugs control. The Tajik President reiterated Tajikistan’s commitment to ECO’s objectives and assured the Secretary General of his continuous personal support to ECO’s initiatives.
Besides meeting with the President, the Secretary General also held bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers/Heads of Delegations of the ECO member states. During the meetings, a host of issues related to ECO were discussed.
On the margins of the 37th OIC-CFM, the Secretary General also met with H.E. Prof. Dr. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC Secretary General. The two sides exchanged views on OIC-ECO cooperation and agreed to further promote the cooperative relations. The ECO Secretary General sought OIC’s assistance for an ECO project-proposal in the field of Agriculture titled “Strengthening Seed Supply in the ECO Region”. Dr. Ihsanoglu assured the Secretary General of his support to ECO’s activities including for the project related to Seed Supply.
ECO enjoys observer status with OIC. The relations between the two organizations were established in 1994 by signing a MoU. Since then ECO has maintained close cooperative relations with OIC and its specialized bodies and other agencies.
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