ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday called for greater collaboration among Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) member states as he addressed a summit of the ECO Council of Foreign Ministers in Iran.
The ECO is a political and economic intergovernmental organization that promotes economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among member states.
The ECO’s objectives include contributing to the development of member states, removing trade barriers within the ECO region, developing intra-regional trade, promoting the ECO region’s integration with global markets and strengthening cultural and historical ties among member states.
Addressing the ECO summit in Mashhad, Dar said this year’s theme, “Enhanced and Resilient ECO Region Through Expansion of Intra-Regional Trade,” was a guiding principle for all that the progress and prosperity of the ECO region “hinges upon expansion of intra-regional trade.”
“It is a matter of great concern that the ECO region, comprising an area of 8 million square kilometers and half a billion population, roughly 15 percent of the world population, has intra-regional trade of unfortunately less than 8 percent of region’s aggregate and only 2 percent of the global trade,” he said.
During the summit, Dar signed the ECO charter on clean energy to enhance regional cooperation for transition to sustainable energy, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.
“The charter is a flagship initiative of ECO in the energy sector which will focus on research & development for innovative renewable clean energy sources to combat climate change [and] play a bridging role in enhancing regional cooperation for smooth transition to sustainable energy,” it said in a statement.
Dar also held a bilateral meeting with Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi.