A memorandum of understanding was signed by the cultural body of the Economic Cooperation Organization and Kish Free Trade Zone Organization in a bid to develop tourism in the Persian Gulf resort island.
Mehdi Mazaheri, director of ECO Cultural Institute and Mohammad Ebrabim Ansari, head of KFTZ, inked the agreement during a ceremony on Monday, IRNA reported.
The accord aims to promote comprehensive cooperation in holding conferences, seminars, festivals and exhibitions, creating an active network of academic and research centers between Kish Island and ECO member countries and setting joint policies to attract more investors in tourism development projects.
Speaking at the event, Ansari highlighted the ultimate goal of the KFTZ to become the region's tourist hub, adding that the MoU provides a valuable opportunity to use the ECO's capacities to boost tourism in the island.
"We have decided to hold weekly cultural events co-organized by the two organizations, since such activities have proven useful means of endorsing tourism capacities," Ansari said.
Taking on Rivals
He further noted that officials at KFTZ should monitor other free trade zones across ECO member states to establish bilateral cultural, tourism and economic relations.
Ansari declared KFTZ's intention to compete with regional tourism brands and suggested drawing on Kish Airlines' capacities to launch direct flights between the island and the capital cities of ECO countries.
"The plans can be completed by forming a working group tasked with planning and organizing joint cultural events and formulating strategies to attract tourists from ECO nations."
Describing cultural diplomacy as a complementary component of political diplomacy, director of ECO Cultural Institute emphasized that strengthening cultural ties is a positive effort in line with development in numerous fields. Mazaheri underlined religious and linguistic similarities between ECO countries and ensured that "such affinity will definitely ease the relations."
He expressed eagerness to initiate any sort of collaboration with KFTZ to explore the untapped potential of the island.
Economic Cooperation Organization 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 was expanded to include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The ECO Cultural Institute, a subsidiary of the organization, was formed in 1995 following the signing of its charter at the Third ECO Summit Meeting at Islamabad and Tehran was selected as its headquarters.
