Iran looks to ECO summit to boost regional economic ties
Iran is seeking to expand economic cooperation with regional countries through the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), with a forthcoming summit offering an opportunity to address what its first vice president described as four decades of shortcomings by the bloc.
Mohammad Reza Aref made the remarks on Saturday at a meeting to plan the ECO summit, saying Iran had expanded its engagement with members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union in recent years and established more substantive ties with them, IRNA reported.
Aref identified tourism, science and technology, cybersecurity and trade as major areas for cooperation among ECO members and called for them to be prioritized at the upcoming summit. He said the meeting would provide an opportunity to chart a new course for regional economic cooperation.
Aref said developing relations with regional countries was a government priority and that countries in the region were also more willing to expand cooperation with Iran.
ECO, initially established by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey and now comprising 10 member states, had not performed adequately, Aref said. Leaders of member countries had stressed the need to expand the organization’s activities.
He said stronger bilateral ties among ECO members, along with their cooperation through other regional organizations, had created favorable conditions for improving collaboration within the bloc.
Aref also pointed to the readiness of countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus and east of Iran to expand ties, stressing the need to make use of regional capacities and the member states’ shared cultural ties.
At Saturday’s meeting, the Foreign Ministry presented an update on preparations for the summit. The ministers of culture, science, cultural heritage and tourism, and roads and urban development also outlined the latest state of Iran’s cooperation with ECO members in their respective fields.
Aref ordered the formation of five specialized working groups on cultural, tourism, diplomatic, economic and political affairs, to be headed by the relevant ministers.
ECO has 10 members: Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.