The “3rd Meeting of Attorneys/Prosecutors General of the ECO Member States” was held at Islamabad, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 30th to 31st January 2018.
The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Turkey, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. Ambassador Halil Ibrahim Akca, the Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) also attended the meeting.
The meeting focused on the effective mechanism for judicial cooperation/legal assistance in the ECO Region, mutual legal assistance and fight against transnational organized crime, sharing best practices and challenges including human trafficking, migrant smuggling and trans-boundary kidnapping for ransom, drug trafficking, relationship between transnational organized crime and terrorism, fight against cybercrime, preventive measures in fight against trans-national crimes, developing scientific and research ties among the training centers of Attorneys/ Prosecutors General offices, etc.
In his statement, H.E the Secretary General of ECO expressed his gratitude to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for hosting the 3rd Meeting of the Attorneys/ Prosecutor General of ECO Member States. He explained how, since its inception, the ECO has worked towards increasing the regional connectivity and integration. He informed that during the 13th ECO Summit in Islamabad, the Member States approved the ECO vision 2025 which focuses on improving trade, transportation, energy, tourism, economic growth and social welfare.
The Heads of the country delegations, led by H.E the Secretary General ECO called on the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The H.E the Secretary General ECO also called on the Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan along with the Attorney General of Islamic Republic of Pakistan to exchange ideas on issues of mutual interests.
The Meeting condemned the recent acts of terrorism in Afghanistan and expressed solidarity with the victims and people of Afghanistan. The meeting concluded with adoption of “Islamabad Declaration” wherein Islamic Republic of Pakistan inter alia also proposed to share a draft framework agreement for judicial cooperation/legal assistance mechanism for the ECO Region.