FM says ECO could become one of most dynamic blocs in Global South
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday said the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) region could become “one of the most dynamic emerging areas in the Global South” if member states fully use their collective potential.
Speaking during the 29th ECO Council of Ministers meeting held virtually, Araghchi outlined a forward-looking vision for fostering cooperation among the organization’s members, IRNA reported.
“Recent summits have shown that the political will to reinforce ECO exists at the highest level of member states,” he said, adding that the Council of Ministers — as ECO’s highest decision-making body — “must continuously strengthen this valuable will and reproduce this momentum.”
The Iranian minister called for “paradigmatic changes and structural redesign” in the regional bloc.
“To formulate a new vision, we cannot continue along the same old frameworks and pathways and ignore major global and regional developments and challenges,” he added.
Araghchi said the 10-member bloc — comprising Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan — must move beyond past approaches to realize its full potential.
“Our countries must become more resilient, more integrated, and stronger in the face of future risks and shocks,” he said, underscoring that ECO “remains the best existing platform for the collective development and progress of its members.”
The minister urged the ECO Vision Committee to develop “a more appropriate, efficient, and implementable document for the next 10 years,” adding that any future strategy “must make our region more physically and technologically interconnected.”
The call for renewal comes after the 28th ECO Council of Ministers convened on December 3, 2024, in Mashhad, Iran, where foreign and deputy foreign ministers from all member states gathered in person — a meeting that set the stage for the current push toward institutional reform.