The ECO Secretary General H.E. Ambassador Khusrav Noziri visited the Republic of Azerbaijan to attend the 3rd General Conference of the ECO Parliamentary Assembly (PAECO) held at Baku from on May 16-18, 2022. During the visit, he called on the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Mr. Jeyhun Bayramov to discuss issues of mutual interest.
The Foreign Minister welcomed Ambassador Noziri in his office, recalling their last interaction on the sidelines of Antalya Diplomatic Forum in March 2022. As regards 3rd PAECO Conference in Baku, he considered it a step forward in ECO parliamentary partnership. In addition, he considered that there was a strong need to fuel the ECO’s cooperative relationship in various important areas, emphasizing on increased regional connectivity that, he believed, was the pre-requisite to materialize their efforts for shared socioeconomic development in the region. To this end, he commended the Uzbekistan’s initiative for proclamation of 2022 as the ECO Year of Connectivity. Referring the Ashgabat Consensus for Action adopted by 15th Summit, he stated that the ECO Heads of State/Governments also stressed on the significance of connectivity for enhancement of trade and other activities in the region. Moreover, he underscored the importance of ECO Research Center, adding that it can play a very effective role to support and provide firm basis to various ECO initiatives. Expressing pleasure over the establishment of ECO Clean Energy Center established in Baku under 25th COM decision, he noted that ECO-UNIDO joint project is a reflection of our efforts towards sustainable energy transmission. He looked forward to all the ECO Member States to join the Center’s charter with a view to securing maximum results from the project.
The ECO Secretary General thanked the Foreign Minister for his receptivity and congratulated him for the organization of 3rd General Conference of the Parliamentary Assembly of ECO (PAECO) in Baku. While talking about the significance of parliamentary diplomacy and the PAECO’s importance to support and push the ECO’s overall agenda of cooperation, the Secretary General also touched on some other important activities of the Organization, in particular, trade and connectivity. He noted that the well-developed transport infrastructure of Azerbaijan and country’s important corridors have the huge potential to serve as the main connectivity hub in the region. Reiterating his pleasure over the establishment of ECO Clean Energy Center in Baku, he mentioned that an under-consideration ECO Electricity Market, once established, would steer the ECO to an advanced level of regional cooperation on energy. Moreover, he reassured ECO’s desire and commitment to jointly work for supporting the rehabilitation and development process in the Azerbaijan’s recently liberated territories.
