The Meeting of the Consular Officials of the Member States convened on October 6, 2024, to exchange views and discuss the latest developments of visa procedure simplifications in MS, implementation the provisions of the TTFA regarding Visa regime simplification and sharing experiences, implementation of the “Visa Pilot Scheme” to help further facilitation of visa procedure for the drivers, views on the consular issues affecting transit transport and others.
Representatives from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Türkiye, Turkmenistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the ECO Secretariat, participated in the meeting.
ECO Deputy Secretary General Mr. Silapberdi Nurberdiyev, briefly outlined that simplification of visa issuance for drivers and related personnel will improve one of the major impediments in smooth transit road traffic among ECO Member States and will contribute to trade promotion in our region. At the meantime, treatment of the professional drivers in the territories of the transiting countries needs to be duly respectful and decent as they are playing critical role in trade and supply chains of the countries.
Delegates from the participating countries shared recent developments of visa procedure in their respective countries, development of electronic visa issuing and outlined that visa issuing simplifications depend on various economical and political factors in Member States.
The meeting concluded with a consensus to regularly further communicate to solve arising issues.
