Pakistan Leading the Economic Cooperation Organisation

PRIME Minister Nawaz Sharif (centre), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (5th right), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (4th right), Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (5th left), Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon (4th left), Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov (3rd left).

ISLAMABAD: The 13th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) ended here on Wednesday with calls for doubling intra-regional trade in the next five years and promoting connectivity amid protest by Afghanistan over closure of border crossings by host Pakistan.

The summit was attended by all 10 ECO members, although Afghanistan was represented at a lower level because of tensions with Pakistan over terrorism sanctuaries. The leaders of participating countries, during their discussions, emphasised the importance of connectivity for prosperity of the region and exchanged views on regional and global issues, besides deliberating on ways of making the ECO a more efficient organisation.

“The successful holding of the summit is a manifestation of the desire and commitment of the member states to transform the ECO into a vibrant regional bloc,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who chaired the summit, said at the end of the session.

The summit adopted Islamabad Declaration and Vision 2025. The declaration calls for development of transport and communication infrastructure, facilitation of trade and investment, promotion of connectivity with other regions, effective use of energy resources and undertaking measures for making the ECO effective and efficient. Vision 2025 underscores promotion of cooperation among member states.