DUSHANBE
, May 4, Asia-Plus – A Tajik government delegation led by Prime Minister Oqil Oqilov left today for Azerbaijani capital city of
Baku
to attend the 9
th
ministerial meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) a summit of presidents and prime ministers of member nations of ECO, presidential press service reported.
According to the source, the Tajik delegation consists of Saymumin Yatimov, First Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdulvohid Karimov, Chairman of the Committee for Environmental Protection and Forestry, Ramazon Mirzoyev, Tajik Ambassador to Iran also Tajikistan’s Representative to ECO, as well as heads and senior representatives of a number of ministries and organizations.
Saymumin Yatimov will participate in the 9
th
one-day ministerial meeting that is being held in
Baku
today. This meeting will be followed Friday by a summit of presidents and prime ministers of member countries of the Organization.
Participants in today”s ministerial meeting are discussing latest developments within the organization as well as prospects for future among its 10 member states —
Iran
,
Afghanistan
,
Pakistan
,
Azerbaijan
,
Kazakhstan
,
Kyrgyzstan
,
Tajikistan
,
Turkey
,
Turkmenistan
and
Uzbekistan
. The meeting is focusing on the ways to promote trade cooperation among ECO member states as well as the possibility of establishing a bank for the organization.
Tomorrow”s 9th summit of ECO member states will be attended by presidents of
Azerbaijan
,
Afghanistan
and
Iran
, as well as prime ministers of other ECO member states. A final declaration will be issued at the end of the summit on major agreements reached and decisions arrived at by member states.
Tajik Prime Minister is expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings with on sidelines of the Eco summit in
Baku
.
The ECO held its 8th summit in
Tajikistan
on
September 14, 2004
.
ABOUT:
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, 28
th
November, is being observed as the ECO Day.