Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday departed for Azerbaijan to participate in the two-day 17th ECO Summit “New ECO Vision for a Sustainable and Climate Resilient Future” in Khankendi.
Heading Pakistan’s delegation, PM Shehbaz will present Pakistan’s viewpoint on pertinent regional as well as global issues while reiterating the commitment towards the ECO Vision 2025.
Besides calling for greater intra-regional trade, transport connectivity, energy cooperation, and sustainable development, the prime minister will also have bilateral talks with other leaders of the ECO on the sidelines of the Summit to exchange views on issues of common interest.
Pakistan joined Iran and Turkiye in establishing the Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) in 1964 and later agreed to rename it the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in 1985.
With 10 member states, the intraregional trade of the ECO countries stands at $76 billion — making the forum an important regional vehicle for trade and investment promotion as it bridges the north to south, south and east to the west, Asia to Europe and Eurasia to the Arab world.
The organization, in recent years, has been a platform for “economic diplomacy and activism”.
Pakistan had previously hosted the 13th ECO summit in 2017 where the heads of states/governments of the member countries had supported and adopted the ECO Vision – 2025.
