On 23 November 2025, ECO Directorate for Agriculture and Industry held a follow-up meeting with the FAO Country Office team in Tehran, led by Mr. Farrukh Toirov, to explore potential areas of cooperation. The meeting builds on earlier discussions held on 9 October 2025 between the ECO Secretary General and the FAO Representative in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Mr. Can Aygul, Director for Agriculture and Industry at the ECO Secretariat, outlined ECO’s agricultural priority areas, noting the seed sector as a promising entry point for collaboration. He highlighted the active work of the ECO Seed Association (ECOSA), particularly its ongoing online series on the status of seed sectors and investment opportunities of ECO Member Countries, which brings together both public and private stakeholders.
The meeting reviewed opportunities within the existing ECO-FAO Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed in 1997. In line with the MoU’s provisions on reciprocal representation, Director Aygul informed the FAO Iran office on the upcoming 8th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture and the 7th High-Level Expert Meeting on Agriculture, to be hosted by Iran on 16–17 February 2026. He also briefed FAO on additional upcoming events in the field of animal trade and veterinary services, another key area of mutual interest, including the 4th ECO-VECO Technical Committee Meeting and the 4th Meeting of Heads of Veterinary Organizations of ECO Member States, where FAO’s technical inputs and participation would be welcomed, particularly as several ECO initiatives, including ongoing cooperation on regional food security under the ECO Regional Programme for Food Security (ECO-RPFS), are developed and supported in partnership with FAO.
