The IV business forum of the member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation is being held today in the conference hall of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan. The event is organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan, the ECO Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the ECO Secretariat.

The forum is organized in a hybrid format through online broadcasts on the Zoom Professional platform. This approach will also be used to organize meetings on the sidelines of the forum with the leaders of the oil and gas, chemical, agricultural, trade sectors, food and textile industries.

The forum brought together leaders and representatives of relevant ministries and departments, national chambers of commerce and industry, banking and financial institutions, representatives of private enterprises in the ECO region.

The Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation Dr. Syed Yahya Aklaki.

The theme of the plenary session of the business forum is “Expansion and activation of trade and economic cooperation between the ECO member states”. The heads and representatives of the national chambers of commerce and industry of the ECO member states - Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, will make presentations during the session.

The main goal of the ECO as an intergovernmental regional organization is the sustainable economic development of the member states and the region as a whole. As set out in the ECO 2025 Outlook, ECO will pave the way for an area of integrated and stable economic systems and a free trade zone.

Over the past decades, ECO member countries have worked together to accelerate the pace of regional development through common efforts. They were able to leverage existing connections to further strengthen their resolve to turn their hopes into tangible reality.

Cooperation in the field of trade, customs services and taxation, digital commerce and e-commerce in the ECO region will be discussed during the first session, moderated by Adem Kula, Secretary General of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

During the first session, the following speakers will speak: Director of the Permanent Mission of the Asian Development Bank in Turkmenistan Chang Ching Yu, Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy of Turkmenistan Toili Myalikov, Director of Trade and Investment of the Organization for Economic Cooperation Zahid Hussein Abbasi, Regional Adviser of the Economic Cooperation and Trade Division of the UN Economic Commission for Europe Mario Apostolov, Aimurat Saparov, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Turkmenistan, Sohail Svalah, member of the Turkey-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce, Head of Trade Policy Department of the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic Bubusara Toktonalieva and others.

As trade continues to be a key driver of economic development and a tool for socio-economic integration, expanding trade is a priority for ECO. This requires trade liberalization, policy harmonization, lower business costs, financial infrastructure and instrumental capacity. Trade facilitation helps develop the complementarity of member economies and paves the way for pooling resources for infrastructure linkages and industrial projects.

Cooperation between the economic zones of the region is one of the main areas that is needed to achieve the desired growth in trade and investment. The ECO Secretariat held the 2nd Meeting of the Heads of ECO / Special Economic Zones on 2 August 2021.

In this regard, a separate role belongs to the ECO Trade and Development Bank, founded in 2005 with headquarters in Istanbul.

The second session of the Forum will be devoted to the development of the industrial sector and transport and logistics services, investment opportunities in the ECO region. Among the speakers - Deputy Chairman of the State Concern "Turkmenhimiya" Murad Gurbandurdyev, Deputy Head of the Agency "Turkmendenizderyaollary" of the Transport and Communications Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Annadurdy Kosayev, Director of Transport and Communications of the UES Akbar HSodayi, Representative of the Islamic Development Bank Nazar Mohammad Eltah investments of the Agency for Investment and Development of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurlan Aripov and others.

Transport and communication is an important issue for the sustainable development of the ECO region. Corridor improvement and management is becoming an institutional priority of the Economic Cooperation Organization, as it has always sought to use mechanisms based on transport corridors to promote the development of member countries, connecting them with neighboring regions in order to ensure access to international markets.

An important step towards a seamless transit transport connection was the construction of the ECO railway corridor between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran (CTI).

A number of important agreements and contracts will be signed as a result of bilateral meetings with the leadership in the sectors: oil and gas, chemistry, agriculture and food processing, textile industry, trade.