A virtual consultative bilateral meeting between the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) was held on April 14, 2022 to formulating a mechanism to further enhance collaboration between the two organizations. The meeting deliberated to propose and plan new prospects and joint activities in different areas of mutual interest including trade and investment, transport and communication, energy, climate change, and capacity building in line with the RCI of IsDB and ECO Vision 2025.
At the very outset, the Deputy Secretary General of the ECO, Ambassador Huseyin Avni Bicakli, appreciated the constructive role of the IsDB in supporting the regional cooperation and integration among common member countries of the two organizations. He highlighted some the salient features of ongoing partnership between ECO and IsDB and expressed his hope that the proposed joint cooperation will provide an opportunity to promote collaboration in various areas of common interest.
During the meeting, Director of the Regional Cooperation and Integration of IsDB, Mr. Riad Raqueb, thanked the Secretariat for hosting this important meeting and stated that ECO and IsDB have a long-standing partnership and mentioned that the Bank is currently assisting the ECO in different projects in transport and connectivity. Mr. Akbar Khodaei, Director for Transport and Communication of ECO, highly appreciated the existing cooperation between both the organization in promotion and development of Transit Transport in the region. He stated that under the new initiative, more transport projects could be implemented.
Director for Trade & Investment of ECO, Mr. Zahid Hussain Abbasi, highly appreciated the meeting being very timely and highlighted the synergies between the RCI of the IsDB, the ECO Vision 2025 of the ECO and mentioned that collaboration in priorities areas of both organizations, will result in a win-win situation as the progress in their respective targets will contribute towards achieving their set goals as well as SDGs 2030. He emphasized that trade is the pivotal priority areas of the ECO and both sides need to explore possibility for further cooperation in this area.
Mr. Rovshan Mirzayev, Director for Energy, Minerals & Environment of ECO, emphasized that the two organizations should take into consideration the interest and needs of the common Member States and proposed several activities in the area of energy and climate change.
Mr. Muhammad Farooq, Head of International Relations of ECO, valued the proposed joint plan of action, spanning for 3-5 year period, for enhancing the mutual cooperation and assured the Bank that the ECO Secretariat would share the updated draft mechanism for future cooperation between the two organizations. At the conclusion of the meeting, the two sides expressed their desire to continue the process of mutual consultations to finalize the mechanism for enhancing mutual collaboration.
