H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan accompanied by H.E. Mr. Ashgat Orazba, Ambassador of Kazakhstan in Tehran, visited the ECO Secretariat on 11 April 2019 to meet with the Secretary General of the ECO, H.E. Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour.
At the outset, the Secretary General welcomed the Deputy Foreign Minister to the Secretariat and acknowledged the rigorous efforts and enduring commitment of the Republic of Kazakhstan in pursuit of regional cooperation among the members of ECO. The ECO Secretary General deeply appreciated the first president and the leader of the nation of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev, for his commendable support and patronage during his tenure to ECO and hoped that his guidance would remain with us and under his leadership ECO would further achieve its objectives.
Dr. Soleimanpour briefed the Deputy Foreign Minister about the ECO’s current progress and future plans in different areas. He presented key features of ECO Vision 2025 & ECO Reform Process and informed the Deputy Minister that in order to materialize the vision of our leadership and to upgrade the living standards of the people of the region, ECO has been working on the implementation of several projects. The ECO Secretary General also provided an update on key legal frameworks of the organization. He highlighted the significance of ECO Trade Agreement (ECOTA) in enhancing intra-region trade and requested Kazakhstan to become a signatory to ECOTA. While expressing his views about regional financial framework, he informed the Deputy Foreign Minister about the plan of establishing ECO regional financial system which would provide facilitation to settle payments to import and export of goods and services among the ECO Member States. He invited the assistance of Kazakhstan in drafting the agreement of its establishment. He also invited Kazakhstan to consider joining the ECO Trade and Development Bank. The ECO Secretary General appreciated Kazakhstan’s support on ECO’s initiative to commercialize the railway between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran (KTI) and expressed his hope that the Government of Kazakhstan would continue its assistance for KTI study project and in developing other important corridors in ECO region.
The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan thanked the ECO Secretary General for providing detailed information about the Organization and its activities. He also appreciated the initiatives launched by ECO in different sectors aimed at promoting regional trade and regional integration among the member states and expressed his full support towards activities of ECO. He acknowledged the idea of establishing ECO regional financial system and informed the Secretary General that Astana International Financial Centre could assist ECO Secretariat in realizing this important regional financial framework. He invited the ECO Secretary General to pay visit to Kazakhstan in order to have consultations with the relevant ministries and organizations of Kazakhstan for seeking further possible collaboration in specific areas for regional economic cooperation.
At the end of the meeting, the Secretary General thanked the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan for visiting the Secretariat and expressed his deep appreciation for the support expressed by H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi to realize the vision of the ECO leadership.
