ECO delegation attended the ECO-CCI’s Executive Committee Meeting in Ankara

The 23rd Executive Committee Meeting of the ECO-Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ECO-CCI) was inaugurated by H.E. Mr. Lütfi Elvan, Honourable Minister of Development and H.E. Mr. Bülent Tüfenkci, Honourable Minister of Customs and Trade of the Republic of Turkey on 17 November 2017 which was hosted by the Union of the Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).

The delegations of seven ECO Member States, namely, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Turkey (the host) headed by the Presidents/Representatives of National Chambers of Commerce and Industry actively participated in the Meeting and deliberated on the ways for strengthening cooperation through greater engagement of the private sector.

H.E. Mr. Zubair F. Tufail, President of ECO,“CCI, H.E. Mr. M. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, President TOBB, H.E. Mr. H. E. Gholam Hossein Shafie, President ICCIMA, and Mr. Kanan Nazarov, the ECO Deputy Secretary General made their statements in the inaugural ceremony. The participating officials also appreciated the TOBB for the warm hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the meetings.

The dignitaries in their speeches underscored that the trade level among Member States is below expectation level and that investment in regional infrastructure and human resources can play important role in fostering economic growth and development in the region. They stressed on the need for increased cooperation at government and business levels and operationalization of ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) to make the region more integrated. They called for removal of bottlenecks for enhancement of intra-ECO trade.

In his statement, ECO Deputy Secretary General Mr. Kanan Nazarov underlined the significance of cooperation in promoting economic growth of the Member States and also improving living standards of people in this region of abundant natural and human resources. He stated that implementation of the ECO Vision-2025 will take the region on a trajectory of enhanced economic growth and development in the next decade. He also referred to ECO's legal frameworks especially ECOTA, APPI, TTFA, institutional mechanisms, initiatives, projects and programmes which are a vivid reflection of collaboration, nevertheless, requiring more interest and participation of the Member States to reap the potential benefits. He maintained that ECO Secretariat is endeavouring to speed up completion of projects in the areas of trade, transportation, etc., with the collaboration of regional and international organizations.

The second segment of the 23^rd Executive Committee Meeting constituted the Statutory Session. During the meeting, the Secretary General of ECO-CCI, Mr. Maher Alam Khan, presented activity report of ECO-CCI and informed that from April to October 2017, the ECO-CCI has organized the meetings of the following organs:

The reports of all the Committees and Sub-Committee were unanimously adopted by the house. The Committee was informed that ECO-CCI also organized meetings of ECO-CCI's Statute Review Committee and Meeting of Technical Sub-Committee on Arbitration. It was also informed that Workshops on Tourism and Women Entrepreneurs were also held on 15-16 November 2017. The Secretary General of ECO-CCI also informed that two meetings of Statute Review Committee were held and informed developments which took place.

The Meeting concluded with appreciative note and high spirit aiming to strengthening cooperation and collaboration in all vital areas and with commitment to capitalize the region's vast resources and to take maximum benefit from the current global economic environment/scenario.