The 17th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ECO Trade and Development Bank (ETDB) was held on June 28, 2018 at Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey. On the invitation of the ETDB, the ECO Secretary General, H.E. Ambassador Halil Ibrahim Akca attended the plenary session of the meeting.

The 17th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ECO Trade and Development Bank (ETDB) was held on June 28, 2018 at Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey. On the invitation of the ETDB, the ECO Secretary General, H.E. Ambassador Halil Ibrahim Akca attended the plenary session of the meeting.

In his statement, H.E. the Secretary General while congratulating the management of the Bank for financing the flagship projects and supporting monetary requirements of both public and private sectors in the ECO region, he emphasized on the need of continued, accelerated and enhanced cooperation between the Bank and Secretariat for boosting socio-economic development of the Member States.

He pointed out that the ECO Vision-2025, adopted last year, envisages creation of an ECO Vision Fund for the implementation of various initiatives. The ECO Council of Ministers, under the vision 2025, tasked the ECO Secretariat to develop the structure and modalities of this Fund in collaboration with the ETDB. The Secretary General, therefore, requested the Bank to prioritize the establishment of the Fund to assist ECO Secretariat in undertaking feasibility studies and implementing capacity building projects in priority areas contained in the ECO Vision-2025.

Continuing his statement, the ECO Secretary General informed the Meeting that the Agreement of ECO Reinsurance Company signed between Iran, Pakistan and Turkey, has already entered into force and the company will now be established in Karachi, this year. He desired all ECO Member States to consider joining this Company and benefit from its facilities.

Concluding his remarks, the Secretary General also highlighted the prominent ECO Projects in the fields of Transport, Energy and Agriculture.