| |
Back to Muslims Countries
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) is an intergovernmental
regional organization established for the purpose of promoting economic,
technical and cultural cooperation among the Members.
ECO is the successor
organization of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) which remained in
existence since 1964 up to 1979. In 1992, the Organization was expanded to
include seven new members, namely: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Republic
of Azerbaijan, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. The date of the
Organization’s expansion to its present strength, 28th November, is being
observed as the ECO Day.
The ECO region is full of bright trading
prospects. Despite its young age, ECO has developed into a thriving regional
organization. Its international stature is growing. Nevertheless, the
organization faces un-daunting challenges with respect to realization of its
objectives and goals. Most importantly, the region is lacking in appropriate
infrastructure and institutions which the Organization is seeking to
develop, on priority basis, to make full use of the available resources in
the region.
Over the past 12 years the member states have been
collaborating to accelerate the pace of regional development through their
common endeavors. Besides shared cultural and historic affinities, they have
been able to use the existing infrastructural and business links to further
fortify their resolve to transfer their hopes and aspirations into a
tangible reality. ECO has embarked on several projects in priority sectors
of its cooperation including energy, trade, transportation, agriculture and
drug control.
One of the main objectives of ECO as a regional
grouping is to promote trade within the region and the rest of the world
based on the principle of free trade, and to meet the challenges of
globalization.
In pursuance of this objective, a number of projects and programs have
been embarked upon during the past five years. These ECO projects and
programs can broadly be categorized as under:
- trade liberalization activities
- trade facilitation projects
- cooperation with international agencies.
The idea behind these programs is to lay down the necessary
regulatory framework, in a region-wide context, that facilitates and
allows the business communities of the region to exploit the emerging
opportunities.
More information about doing business
in ...
ECO Web Site:
http://www.ecosecretariat.org/ |
