DUSHANBE, December 10, Asia-Plus — State and prospects of further expansion of cooperation of Tajikistan with member nations o the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) were major topic of a meeting of Sharif Said, the head of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI), with Waqar Ahmad Shah, the head of the ECO Directorate of trade and Investment, that was held in Dushanbe on December 7, CCI press service said..
During the meeting it was noted that member nations of ECO – Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan — now held lead place in external trade turnover of Tajikistan.
A trade turnover of Tajikistan with member nations of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) over the first ten months of this year has amounted to $1.2694 billion, which is 40 percent of its external trade turnover for the report period.
The main shares of Tajikistan’s exports to the ECO states include electrical power, primary aluminum and cotton fiber.
The CCI head noted that the ECO market was the most accessible market for Tajikistan and cooperation with the ECO states would create favorable conditions for attraction of foreign investments, launch of joint ventures, as well as development of trade.
Sharif Said also noted that creation of a common economic space and close intra-regional integration could facilitate further expansion of trade cooperation with the ECO area. He also pointed to the necessity of simplifying customs rules and procedures and removing superfluous bureaucratic obstacles on the way of development of regional trade cooperation.
The CCI head outlined trade, transportation, energy, tourism, agrarian sector, and telecommunications as priorities of cooperation within the ECO area.
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental regional organization established in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey for the purpose of promoting economic, technical and cultural cooperation among the Member States.
ECO is the successor organization of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) which remained in existence since 1964 up to 1979.
In 1992, the Organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. The date of the Organization’s expansion to its present strength, November 28, is being observed as the ECO Day.
The ECO region is full of bright trading prospects. Despite its young age, ECO has developed into a thriving regional organization. Its international stature is growing. Nevertheless, the organization faces un-daunting challenges with respect to realization of its objectives and goals. Most importantly, the region is lacking in appropriate infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is seeking to develop, on priority basis, to make full use of the available resources in the region.
Over the past 12 years the member states have been collaborating to accelerate the pace of regional development through their common endeavors. Besides shared cultural and historic affinities, they have been able to use the existing infrastructural and business links to further fortify their resolve to transfer their hopes and aspirations into a tangible reality. ECO has embarked on several projects in priority sectors of its cooperation including energy, trade, transportation, agriculture and drug control.
Current Membership: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
One of the main objectives of ECO as a regional grouping is to promote trade within the region and the rest of the world based on the principle of free trade, and to meet the challenges of globalization.
