At the 15th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization in Ashgabat, Uzbekistan took over from Turkmenistan the chairmanship of the organization for 2022. The country will chair the ECO for the first time.

“We are committed to the effective implementation of our upcoming chairmanship,” Shavkat Mirziyoyev said at the summit. He noted that Uzbekistan stands for the development of comprehensive relations within the ECO, and put forward a number of proposals for cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, transport and the "green" economy.

In particular, Mirziyoyev proposed creating a Center for Trade, Investment and Innovation within the ECO in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) and locating the center's headquarters in Tashkent.

To develop relations in the field of transport communications, the Uzbek leader called for the development of a regional strategy aimed at developing the transit potential of the ECO states. Touching upon the topic of ecology, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to create a permanent Council for high-level dialogue with the participation of foreign scientists and international experts in the field of the environment.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that in order to restore tourism at a meeting of ECO tourism ministers in Bukhara in 2022, Uzbekistan intends to come up with an initiative to adopt a regional program for the development of safe tourism in the post-pandemic period.

The head of Uzbekistan also proposed to create a high-level expert group to prepare specific proposals and recommendations for improving the ECO's activities.

During the presidency of Uzbekistan in the ECO, Mirziyoyev proposed to declare a Year of Strengthening Connectivity in the member countries of the organization.

ECO is a regional multilateral structure created in 1985 with the aim of promoting the development of trade and economic relations between the countries of the region. The organization's members are 10 states - Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan.

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