The 25th Regional Planning Council (RPC) meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organization’s (ECO) opened on Sunday at the ECO Secretariat in Tehran. ECO Secretary-General Shamil Aleskerov, and representatives from the ECO member states are attending the five-day event.
The session’s opening statement was delivered by Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, Abbas Araqchi, IRNA reported.
Deputy minister of economic affairs and finance and head of Iran’s Organization for Investment, Economic and Technical Assistance, Mohammad Khaza’ee, also addressed the session and underlined Iran’s commitment to the ECO objectives over the past 20 years. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to extend support to ECO members in of information and communication technologies, as well as creating new electricity markets among the member states.”
The official also suggested establishing a fund among ECO member states for high priority projects, Fars news agency reported.
The RPC meeting, held annually, focuses on reviewing the organization’s developing policies and programs in accordance with the principles and objectives of regional cooperation as laid down in the Treaty of Izmir.
During the five-day meeting, participants from sectional ministries of the ECO member states will revise the organization’s activities in 2014 and draft new policies and programs for 2015 based on the discussions in technical working committees of the meeting.
Areas of regional significance include trade, investment, transport, communications, energy, minerals, agriculture, environment, economic research, industry, tourism, health, disaster risk reduction and drug control.
The participants will also discuss the performance of ECO’s specialized agencies, relations with regional and international organizations as well as the ongoing programs/projects. ‘The Calendar of Events’ for 2015 will be also developed by the participants.
A special meeting of head of delegations (officials from planning organizations of the member states) will also be convened to exchange views on the status of the ECO programs and projects with a view to addressing the possible challenges ahead.
The council plays an important role in promoting the objectives of the ECO. The council has technical committees to assist it in its task. Plans and programs endorsed by this RPC will be submitted to the 22nd Council of Ministers (COM) for approval.
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. In 1992, ECO expanded to include seven new members, namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
