Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed over chairmanship of the
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) to Turkish President Abdullah
Gul at the 11th summit of the organization in Istanbul.
APA reports that Gul noted the plans to increase the trade turnover of
ECO members to 10% in 2010. The indicator remains at 7%. Gul noted
that they need to ratify the free trade agreement, signed between
Turkey and Pakistan on December 7, and other members of the
organization.
The president expressed willingness to become partners with the Asian
Bank for Development and ECObank, established in Istanbul in 2008. He
said that the countries lack access to major seas, meaning that
communication becomes more important. The Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad
railway should improve connections between the countries.
Abdullah Gul also talked about the necessity to expand cooperation in
renewable energy sources of ECO members, KazTag reports.
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran, Elmar Mammadyarov,
Ahmet Davutoglu and Ali Akbar Salehi, had a trilateral meeting in
Istanbul within the framework of the ECO summit. They made a joint
declaration concerning historic, cultural, economic and friendly ties
between the countries, peace in the region, the fight against arms-,
drugs- and people-trafficking and settlement of conflicts.
They decided to have a regular meeting of ministers to discuss regional issues.
ECO was established in 1985. It is the successor to the Regional
Cooperation Organization. It functions based on the charter of Izmir,
signed by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.
