The 14th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport will be organized on 15 October 2026 in Astana. Hosted by the Government of Republic of Kazakhstan on the margins of Astana New Silk Way Forum, the Ministerial Meeting will gather ministers and high-level transport officials from the ECO Member States to discuss ways and means to enhance intra–regional connectivity.
Experts from the Member States have so far convened 4 online preparatory meetings to negotiate the two outcome documents of the Ministerial Meeting, the ECO 10-year transport strategy and the Astana Declaration.
Senior officials from Member States will convene the last preparatory meeting before Ministerial Meeting on 14th October in Astana to finalize the outcome documents of the Ministerial Meeting. They will also take stock of the activities and developments in the ECO since last ministerial meeting June 2025 in Tehran.
Within the framework of the Meeting, a dialogue with representatives of the ECO private sector will be held on 15th October to discuss public–private partnership on digitalization and financing of the ECO transport sector. The outcome of the private sector meeting will be part of the ECO Ministerial Declaration.
Connectivity has always been a major priority area for the ECO and its Member States. The ECO Region is composed of land-locked and transit countries. Three ECO transit countries have significant potential and capacities to unlock the potential of the 7 land-locked Member States through connecting them to the global markets. The ECO Region’s transit network is critical for neighbouring countries and regions, too. It has significant and unparalleled capacity to facilitate international trade through connecting China to Europe, and Russia and North Europe to Persian Gulf, Oman Gulf and Indian Ocean.
Over the years, all ECO Summits have underscored in their policy guidance the continued and increasing significance of transport and transit for the ECO Region. Ministers of Transport in their annual meetings have translated this high-level political will into frameworks for regional cooperation and coordination in transport and transit and its related areas. The last ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport was held in June 2025 in Tehran and focused, inter alia, on digitalization and sustainability.
