On July 6, 2022, the ECO Secretary General H.E Ambassador Khusrav Noziri called on the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan H.E. Abdulla Aripov.
The high-level interaction, that took place on the sidelines of 7th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture held at Tashkent from July 5-6, 2022, was meant to discuss and evaluate the existing level of cooperation amongst the ECO Member States. During the meeting, the two sides mulled over the possible ways for acceleration of ECO activities in line with the Organization’s priorities.
The Honourable Prime Minister thanked the Member States and the ECO Secretariat for their sincere and vigorous support to Uzbekistan, especially since the country took over the Chairmanship of the ECO in January 2022. While underlining importance of the overall agenda of ECO, he emphasized on transport and connectivity to make the region more integrated, noting that a strongly interconnected region could pave a solid ground for enhancing trade and investment activities amongst the Member States. Relevantly, he referred that the initiative of H.E. President Shavkat Mirzyoyev, for proclamation of 2022 as the Year of Connectivity, was put forward bearing the given ambiance in sight.
In citation of the last Meeting of the ECO Regional Planning Council (RPC) held in January 2022, he confirmed that Uzbekistan was working for the establishment of a Regional Center for Trade and Innovation. A Concept Paper would soon be shared with the ECO Secretariat in this regard, he said. The Honourable Prime Minister also valued the assistance of ECO Secretariat to ensure successful holding of the 7th ECO Ministerial Meeting at Tashkent, adding that the country is keenly waiting to host the 12th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Transport in January 2023. Besides, he extended his gratitude to the ECO Secretary General to accept invitations for participation in the International Conference on Afghanistan and SCO Summit to be respectively hosted by Uzbekistan in July and September this year.
The ECO Secretary General commended the expanding role of Uzbekistan in the ECO. Furthermore, he acknowledged the country’s significant contribution to enrich the agenda of the Organization as the current ECO Chair, and their receptivity to host several important ECO events. The Secretary General also expressed his deep felicity over the warm hospitality extended by Uzbekistan to facilitate the participants of the 7th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Agriculture.
