The ECO stands for Economic Cooperation Organization, and is a regional economic organization. Named as the largest economic organization in the Islamic world, it includes Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The organization currently has ten members, and includes about 330 million people, 8,620,697 square kilometers, oil, gas and industry of these countries. The strategic and privileged position of this region as the crossing point of three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, as well as rich underground resources, and international water connectivity are among the advantages of this organization.
According to the statute of this organization, ECO is working to improve the conditions for sustainable economic development of the member states and is working to gradually eliminate trade barriers in the region. ECO's other goals are developing a joint human resource development program in these ten countries. It also works to accelerate the logistics and communications development program. ECO's official language is English, and the headquarter is in Tehran, Iran, and its secretary-general by 2020 is Dr. Hadi Soleimanpour from Iran.
ECO has a vivid commercial outlook. Despite its young population composition, ECO has developed into a successful and well-established regional organization. Its international reputation is growing. However, the organization faces challenges to its goals. Most importantly, the region lacks the proper infrastructure and institutions for the organization to pursue its development goals and make the most of available regional resources.
Member States have been working together for more than 12 years to accelerate regional development through their joint efforts. Alongside close cultural and historical links, member states have been able to turn their hopes into tangible realities from existing infrastructure and business relationships. ECO has defined several projects based on collaborative priority setting and planning, including energy, trade, transportation, agriculture and controlling drug abuse.
Activities:
ECO's activities are conducted by the managers under the supervision of secretary-general and his/her assistants; they consider plans and programs that are of mutual interest in the following areas:
- DF Trading
- Transportations and Telecommunications
- Energy, Minerals and Environment
- Agriculture, industry and tourism
- Human Resources, Sustainable Development
- Project, Statistics and Economic Research
- International Relations
Goals of ECO Member States:
- Sustainable economic development of member states
- Gradually removal of trade barriers and promotion of inter-regional trade
- The greater role of the ECO region in the growth of world trade, gradual convergence of economies of member states with global economy
- Development of transportation and linking Member States' infrastructure with each other and the outside world
- Economic liberalization and privatization
- Mobilization and exploitation of material resources of the ECO region
- Effective use of the agricultural and industrial potentials of the ECO region
- Regional cooperation on drugs control and ecological and environmental support and strengthening of historical and cultural links between the people of the region
- Mutual beneficial cooperation with regional and international organizations.
Strategic issues regarding the trade scopes of ECO Member States:
According to surveys in ECO member states, there are several problems for increasing ECO intra-regional trade:
- Tariff and non-tariff barriers
- Distribution and Logistics Network
- High shipping cost
- Competition in exports
- Lack of coherence in business activities due to shared and existing capacities
- Conflict between ECO's structural interests with other international treaties
ECO's policy is to increase private sector participation in regional projects pursued through the ECO Chamber of Commerce.