Deputy Secretary General Mr. Kanan Nazarov participated in the inaugural part of the First Meeting of ECO Technical Committee on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) on 22 October, 2018 in Tehran which was attended by distinguished delegates from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of Turkey.
The Deputy Secretary General underscored the significance of the Paperless trade/ EDI system in the competitive global environment, and maintained that paperless trade has become one of the most effective ways of trade facilitation, connectivity and proven mean of reducing cost of doing business. He emphasized on benefitting from success stories of EU, ASEAN, etc. in speeding up the process of regional integration. He highlighted that ECO is endeavoring to work in multiple areas including Trade, Investment, Customs facilitation, etc and ECO Vision 2025 provides guidance in this regard.
He affirmed that EDI adoption is not an option but indeed a compulsion. He called upon the participating experts and professionals to develop such system as it would lead to expansion in the volume of trade and investment in the region and will help foster economic growth of regional and national economies which are under stressful conditions. He expressed his hope for deepening cooperation and develop a uniform format and solutions and increasing their capabilities by exchanging their expertise and experiences.
Mr. Kakhki, while expressing his gratitude to the ECO Member States and ECO Secretariat for attending the 1st Meeting of Technical Committee on Electronic Data Interchange. He underlined the benefits of EDI and called upon Member States to strengthen their efforts for developing such system. He expressed the hope that the Meeting would provide a new structure in the field of Data Exchange through a meaningful discussion and deliberations.
Experts and professionals of the Member States held thorough discussions and completed important work on the subject. Deputy Secretary General profoundly appreciated the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) for hosting and making excellent arrangements this important Meeting and termed it a successful step.
Note: The First Meeting of ECO Technical Committee on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) was scheduled in the light of the decision of the 8th Meeting of the ECO Council of Heads of Customs Administrations (CHCA) held in November, 2017 in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
