The 16th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Summit convened in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent, on November 9.
Addressing the meeting, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, in particular, noted that the issues of steady expansion of practical cooperation within the framework of ECO are defined as one of important vectors of Tajikistan’s foreign policy.
“Despite the crisis trends in the global economy, a total gross domestic product (GDP) of the Organization, which currently exceeds two trillion dollars, maintains an overall growth trend,” said Tajik leader, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
An average GDP growth in the majority of the ECO member nations is projected to be more than 5.0 percent based on the results of the current year.
At the same time, Tajik leader reportedly noted that despite these positive trends, a significant part of the potential for economic cooperation between the Organization member nations still remains unused.
According to the Tajik president’s official website, Tajik leader also made a number of proposals related to intensifying cooperation in order to create flexible cooperation systems in all economic sectors, increasing the production of competitive products, providing comprehensive assistance to landlocked member states of the Organization, establishing strong intraregional and interregional transportation links, producing and processing agricultural goods, increasing productivity and yield in the agrarian sector an important component of food security in the region, and using renewable energy sources as one of the main components of development of the green economy.
Concerning the creation of the transportation infrastructure within the ECO area, Emomali Rahmon reportedly noted that “Tajikistan intends to make a significant contribution to the development of this sector in the direction of East-West, Central Asia-South Asia.”
In this context, Tajik leader addressed the ECO Secretariat with a proposal to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the state and prospects of cooperation on all directions for the purpose of providing its further development in all spheres being of interest for all parties.
