The Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Mr. Zhang Ming visited the Secretariat of the Economic Cooperation Organization on March 7, 2023.
Welcoming his SCO Counterpart, Ambassador Khusrav Noziri thanked the dignitary for the visit. Recalling their inaugural interaction held during the Dushanbe Water Process Conference in June 2022, the two sides revisited the scope of their collaboration, areas of cooperation and commonalities in special consideration of the ECO-SCO concurrent memberships by some important countries of the region.
Ambassador Noziri briefed the SCO Secretary General about some fresh developments with particular reference to the recently held 26th Meeting of the ECO Council of Ministers (COM) in Tashkent, including the proclamation of 2023 as the “Year of Green Transition and Interconnectivity” by Azerbaijan in the country’s capacity as current ECO Chair. Moreover, he illuminated the status of some ongoing activities of the ECO as well as the organization’s intent and efforts for enhancing its outreach and visibility. Re-acknowledging the magnitude of ECO-SCO collaborative partnership, he emphasized the necessity and relevance of expanding multilateralism in the 21st Century. ECO looks forward to obtaining reciprocal observer status in the SCO, Ambassador Noziri enunciated.
Appreciating ECO's role in supporting economic development and cooperation in the region, the SCO Secretary General stood equally receptive to furthering ties between the two organizations and fortifying their cooperative nexus in various development sectors, especially trade, transport, energy and environment. Besides, he informed about the preparations and holding of next SCO Summit which is scheduled to be organized at New Delhi in the second half of 2023.
With a view to consolidating relations between the two Organizations, Mr. Ming invited the ECO Secretary General to visit the SCO Secretariat in Beijing at his soonest convenience.
