The delegation of the Iran’s Institute of International Energy Studies (IIES), headed by Dr. Ali Mobini-Dehkordi, Managing Director of the Institute visited the ECO Secretariat on 3 June 2019 to have an ECO-IIES consultation meeting.
The meeting reviewed the prospects for building on the dialogue and institutional linkages between the ECO Secretariat and IIES. Having welcomed the IIES delegation, Amb. Hüseyin Avni Bؤ±çaklؤ±, Deputy Secretary General of ECO briefed them on the current state of play, the ongoing projects and activities in the field of energy cooperation within ECO. He highlighted that the Secretariat is interested in engagement with a wide range of energy stakeholders within the ECO Region and beyond, including think-tanks and research centres through streamlined initiatives, whereas energy is one of the priority areas of cooperation within ECO. In this regard, he thanked IIES for its interest in collaboration with ECO and welcomed any proposals for joint cooperation. Dr. Fuad Farzalibeyov, ECO Director of Energy, Minerals and Environment also intervened on the recent energy trends and developments within ECO, particularly the ongoing transformation of its energy agenda towards sustainable energy.
Dr. Mobini-Dehkordi overviewed the mission, research capacities and recent profile of IEES. He mentioned that the IIES acts as an affiliated research body of the Ministry of Petroleum of the I.R. Iran and is recognized as this Ministry’s hub for strategic researches. Managing Director of IIES underscored the importance of the integrated approach and convergence in energy collaboration in the framework of ECO. In this regard, he expressed the Institute’s readiness to support ECO’s energy activities and engage in energy research and education cooperation. IIES delegation also delivered the presentation on the recent activities of the Institute.
Furthermore, IIES delegation paid a call to H.E. Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour, Secretary General of ECO. The Secretary General briefed the delegation on the ECO’s priorities, objectives and key challenges faced by the Organization for promoting oil and gas cooperation in the region. Dr. Soleimanpour stressed on the need to develop a mechanism for enhanced cooperation between the two organizations by providing the list of possible activities and projects that could be politically implementable, economically viable and financially bankable. He proposed IIES to be involved in and contribute to the forthcoming development of the fundamentally new 5-year ECO Strategy/Plan of Action on Energy Cooperation. ECO Secretary General also initiated the establishment of the network of energy research centres and think tanks in the ECO Region and convening its meeting in 2020.
Both sides agreed to consider the possibility of engaging in a cooperation framework between ECO Secretariat and IIES upon the progress in joint activities, as well as exchange of research papers related to ECO Region’s energy cooperation opportunities, which may further serve to finding certain synergies and complementarities.
