The 1st Meeting of ECO Heads of Capital Markets Supervisory Authorities was virtually hosted by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 29th August 2022. The delegates from Republic of Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tأ¼rkiye, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan participated in the meeting. The delegation of the ECO Secretariat headed by Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Seyed Mohsen Esperi also attended the Meeting.
Mr. Esperi while inaugurating the meeting expressed his delight & appreciation for the long-awaited mandate of 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting of 2014 finally materialized and expressed fervent hope that this important interaction would pave the way for enhanced engagements and activities among the Member States’ capital market regulators, promoting financial cooperation in the region as called for, by relevant objectives of the ECO Vision 2025. He further conveyed that the common goal should be the establishment and formation of Capital Market Supervisory Authorities' Forum for expanding monetary collaboration at regional level. Capacity building may be considered as a tool for bringing innovation in product development, enforcing regulatory framework in effective manner, improving monitoring. In addition, the activities including sharing of knowledge, expertise and best practices would also be helpful to secure the envisioned targets. ECO Secretariat is committed to facilitate promotion of international regulatory standards and developing regulatory capacity to achieve the objectives of investor protection, market development and fair and efficient markets, he emphasized. While alluding to the fact that that Covid-19 severely shocked financial markets, he suggested that the ensuing events illustrated that the resilience of some parts of the financial system needs to be further enhanced. Accordingly, regulators have a fundamental role to play in ensuring the resilience and integrity of the financial system through inter alia regional cooperation to that effect.
In her remarks, the Executive Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Ms. Musarat Jabeen reaffirmed the potential of the forum for sharing ideas and perspectives among regional stakeholders, particularly in the area of capital markets that are currently at different development stages. This session can serve as an excellent platform for exchanging exposures, discovering common grounds for enhanced collaboration and initiating capacity building measures for the development and growth across the region. She highlighted the importance of scientific knowledge sharing, noting that data management and analytical approach provide valuable insights into consumer behavior, and thereby facilitates creation of products & services, based on emerging needs and requirements of the consumers.
The meeting ended with demonstration of readiness of ECO Member States to vehemently follow the required process towards formation of the Capital Market Supervisory Authorities' Forum of ECO Members. Islamic Republic of Iran volunteered to host the 2nd Meeting of Capital Market Supervisory Authorities.
